THE DAUGHTER OF THE MAZE series
by imaginationnerdgirl
Summary: The complete Sage of THE DAUGHTER OF THE MAZE. Based on the Movies: Lyra helps her friends survive the maze, then the scorch, and ultimately WCKD itself. Can Lyra keep her secrets and save her friends? Can they navigate the dangers of WCKD and the scorch? Will her powers expose her secret? Will they ever be free? BONUS an alternative ending to Death Cure. Reviews Welcome.
1. The Daughter of the Maze: Maze Runner

THE DAUGHTER OF THE MAZE

MAZE RUNNER


	2. The Greenie

The Greenie

She was waiting with everyone else. Newt to her right and Alby to her left. The crowd gathered around as they heard that all too familiar sound of the box coming up. More supplies, a new greenie, and more blue liquid for her to drink. She glanced up at the group waiting for the box. She was the only girl in the bunch. She clenched her fists. It was cruel what they were doing to them. Finally, the box opened up, inside, among all the new supplies, was a teenager in a blue long sleeve shirt with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She recognized him immediately. Gally jumped down to help the greenie up.

"Day one greenie!" Gally said as he helped the greenie out of the metal box. The greenie fell on the ground. He looked scared and confused. The other Gladers crowded around him. She had a funny feeling in her stomach. They were poking fun at him as he was lying at the ground.

"He is going to run" She finally spoke up.

No one heard her over their screams and taunts

"He is going to run" She repeated.

Sti,ll no one heard her

"He is going to -" She couldn't finish this time because the greenie got up and bolted away from the crowd.

"We got a runner" Frypan yelled as the greenie ran away.

The group looked at the girl

"Oh, I'm suppose to go after him" She looked at the group as she turned to run after the greenie.

Her strawberry blonde curly hair bouncing as she ran. It didn't take her very long to catch up to the greenie.

"You are going to fall" She yelled at the greenie.

The greenie kept running.

"You are going to -" she tried to repeat herself but the grennie fell down flat on his face. She ran over and helped him up.

"Welcome to the Glade." She said as he stood up. Some of the Gladers took the greenie and threw him to the Pit, a three cell makeshift mud jail used to protect the Gladers from a Glader who are going through the changing.

A few minutes later Alby went to get the greenie. She went with him.

"Hey, there green bean." The girl spoke looking down at the greenie. She remember his brown hair and brown eyes.

"You are not going to run away again are you?" Alby asked as he stared at the greenie.

The greenie shook his head. Alby let him out.

"We grow our own food, we build are our shelter. The box provides some things, but everything else is up to us." Alby stated.

"The box?" The greenie asked

"Every month the box arrives with fresh supplies and a new greenie. This month that is you." The girl stated.

"Hey, Alby" Newt stated as he walked, with a slight limp, toward Alby, the greenie and the teenage girl.

"Greenie this is Newt, he is in charge when I am not around." Alby put his hand on Newt's shoulder.

"I'm Lyra," the girl stated as she stood next to Newt, "I am in charge when these two are acting like idiots, which seems to be all the time." She joked.

"Can you two go find Chuck?" Alby asked looking at Newt and Lyra. Lyra and Newt walked away from Alby and the greenie.

Newt and Lyra walked by the Gladers who were taking inventory of the box's supplies.

"Hey, Lyra" one of them shouted, "Catch." He threw a plastic bottle full of a shimmery blue liquid.

Lyra caught it, opened it and started drinking it.

"You still have to drink that stuff" Newt looked at her concerned, his voice oozed with a British accent.

"Yeah. And don't look at me like that. What if someone saw" Lyra said as she wiped some liquid from her mouth.

"Sometimes I don't care" Newt snapped back at her lovingly.

"No one is supposed to know" Lyra replied through more sips of the blue drink.

"No one will know. Remember Alby's rules." Newt replied.

Lyra stuck her tongue out at him. Her tongue had a hint of blue on it. They walked a little bit in silence.

"Look who I found?" Newt stopped walking. Standing a few feet from them was a young teen with curly short red hair, Chuck.

"Chuck, Alby is looking for you. You are no longer the new greenie. A new one came up today. He will need help settling in. That's your job now" Lyra said pointing at the platform in the tree in the middle of the Glade.

Chuck walked off toward the tree where Alby was probably telling the greenie about the rules of the Glade. Alby a while ago told her the special rules that applied only to her: Don't let the others see, who don't already know and don't spill a drop of her blood to prevent the changing.

"You ready for tonight?" Newt asked Lyra as Chuck walked away.

"Yeah. I could do without the additional noise" Lyra said looking at the large stone walls that surrounded the lush, green Glade.

"Nightmares again?" Newt looked at Lyra with a mix of concern and understanding

Lyra looked at him. She opened the bottle with the blue liquid and started drinking it again. It tasted like nothing, but it looked like her blood when she was stressed or scared.

He can't know that they returned. He would not let her in the maze again. She had to find the way out.

She saw Chuck help the greenie get his hammock made. The doors would be closing soon. She would have to talk to Minho and Ben about what they found. She waited by the entrance of the maze. The tall stone walls loomed over her. She saw the greenie followed by Chuck walk up to her. Chuck was talking about the rules of the Glade. Minho and Ben slowly ran out of the entrance.

"Chuck, I see there is a new greenie, how does it feel to be promoted" Ben stated as he ran by.

"Minho…" Lyra ran after the two teens.

She finally caught up with them a little ways off from the maze entrance.

"Minho-" Lyra started but was cut off by Minho.

"Lyra there is nothing new. No change...no progress." Minho looked into her bright blue eyes.

"I am running tomorrow. I am finding a way out." Lyra said looking back into his brown eyes.

"Suits me." Ben remarked with a laugh.

Lyra smiled, but just kept looking at Minho.

Something drew her attention away from Minho. It was the greenie. A crowd had formed around him and the entrance of the maze.

"Why won't you tell me what is going on?" The greenie looked at Alby and Newt.

Lyra ran towards the crowd and parted it as she made her way towards the greenie.

"You want to know the truth." Lyra started as she neared the greenie

"Lyra" Alby spoke in a stern voice.

Lyra just ignored it "In a few seconds this doors will close. If you are stuck in the maze when the door closes, there are things in the maze that kill you. They killed my friends. You want to risk your life go ahead. I don't know you, I don't care. But you will die. And right now we need to stick together, even if you don't want to. " She shouted at him.

As she talked the large stone doors started to close behind her. There was a thud as the doors slammed shut. The Gladers just stared at her.

She stared at Alby, then glanced at the greenie. She glanced at her palms, her veins glowed a glittery blue. She closed her hands, hoping no one saw. She walked toward her sleeping quarters; a tent, a little ways away from the rest of the sleeping tents, that the Gladers made just for her. She laid on her swinging hammock, tears rolled down her cheeks.


	3. That Night

That Night

Lyra did not come out of her tent even when Alby and Gally visited. When they tried talking to her, she didn't really listen to them.  
Gally had said something to the effect of "Alby knows what he is doing, trust him", but when she didn't respond he got up and left.

Alby had said something to the effect of, "Obey the rules of the glade, the greenie is too new to know stuff."

He was trying to be supportive but instead he came across as if he was digging for information. _Why shouldn't he know truth?_, she thought. Alby, Newt, Gally, and Minho where the only ones still alive that knew the real truth about her and her connection to the maze. She was suppose to lie to everyone else that was the deal she had made with them.

Newt appeared at the entrance of her tent, "Are you going to join us?" he asked with a slight note of concern behind his British accent.

"I guess I have to, right? Duties and responsibilities" Lyra replied sitting up in her hammock as Newt sat sideways to her, "I could make up an excuse for you if you want."

He held her head in his hands. She grabbed his wrist and smiled at him. He pulled her closer to him and their lips met. She loved this feeling. Newt was the most important person to her at the camp. He knew her secrets and he didn't care about them.

"I love you." Lyra spoke after their lips separated

"I love you too." Newt responded moving some of her hair out of her face and behind her ear.

"I think I want to go" She answered after thinking about it for a little bit.

"Good" Newt quickly let go of her head and walked out of her tent.

Lyra quickly realized what happened and ran after Newt.

"Hey, was that just a ploy to get me out of my tent?" she asked as she caught up to him.

"Yep" Newt smiled to her.

She kissed him on the cheek as they walked toward the group standing around some wood stacked. As Gally walked closer to them they separated, Lyra walking to Alby's right side and Newt stood on the left side of Gally, across the stack of wood from Lyra. Alby started to pass around long wooden stakes. Lyra held it, from the ground in reached past her head. One of the Runners came towards the group with a stake, but it was lit. Everyone took turns lighting the tip of the stake. Once all the stakes had been lit, Alby gave a look to Lyra and threw his stake toward the wood pile in the center of the crowd. After he did, the rest of the group followed suit. The group began to dance around and make drum beats. Gally started to practice fight a few of the Gladers. Frypan handed out food to the crowd. Frypan handed Lyra a bottle of the blue shimmery liquid on the wood counter next to Frypan's food as she walked up.

"Thought you would need a few tonight. They help with the nightmares right?" Frypan said handing her the bottle

"Yeah. Thanks, Fry." Lyra responded accepting the bottle and walked around a little.

The boys she past would greet her and she smiled back. She slowly drank the liquid. It tasted unbearably sweet.

"You okay?" Alby asked walking towards her.

"Yeah. the taste just got to me." Lyra answered walking past Alby.

"You feeling better?" Alby asked

"Yeah. Talking to Newt really helped." Lyra responded

"Just remember the rules Lyra. We wouldn't want others to feel jealous or angry" Alby reminded her as he walked away.

Lyra nodded as he turned away from her. She turned back to the task at hand. She looked around the different groups. She was looking for someone. She saw a head full of blonde hair resting against a log next to head with dark brown hair. She walked towards the log.

"He did just save your life" Newt stated as Lyra approached

"You both talking about Gally?" Lyra asked sitting across from them.

"Yeah" The greenie responded

"He is such a jerk" Lyra stated

Newt gave her a look

"What? He is!" Lyra stated again defensively.

Newt looked away from her and towards the greenie.

"The maze is a dangerous place." Newt commented as he looked back to Lyra.

"We are trapped here aren't we?" The greenie asked.

Newt and Lyra exchanged glances.

"For the moment" Newt replied calmly.

Newt then proceeded to tell the greenie about the Runners, Gladers who were tasked with mapping the maze. Newt looked at Lyra. Lyra knew mapping the maze was a lot easier said than done. She must have run the maze a million times and couldn't find a way out, no matter how times the maze changed.

She was pulled from her thought when she heard Newt's voice,"Nobody survives a night in the maze."

That notion almost made Lyra laugh. It was a lie she had to feed the rest of the Gladers, only a small few knew the actual truth, but Alby said that it was the best for everyone if that believed the sentiment that nobody survives a night in the maze.

"We call them Grievers..." Lyra said a little scared, her blue eyes widened

"Of course no one has seen one and lived to tell about it." Newt added, concern in his eyes has he looked to Lyra.

"Come on you are the guest honor. " Lyra said helping Newt and the greenie to their feet.

"I guess we have to show you bacon" Newt said as the three starting walking toward Frypan.

A little while later the three were walking around the camp. Newt was introducing the greenie to the whole camp. The the topic of jobs in the camp came up.

"What if I want to be a Runner?" the greenie asked

"Didn't you hear what I said? No one really wants to be a Runner." Newt looked at the greenie with shock in his eyes.

"Besides you get chosen." Lyra added.

"By who?" at the moment the greenie asked that question another Glader bumped into the greenie.

The three stopped, the Glader stepped aside revealing Gally in the center of a arena of sand.

"What do you say greenie? Want to see what you are made of?" Gally asked.

"How about we show the greenie that you are actually beatable Gally? Or are you too afraid to loose to a girl?" Lyra shot back in a semi joking manner.

Lyra knew that Gally liked her and she knew that Gally would be angry if he knew that Lyra like someone else in the Glade.

"Sure thing, Hot head." Gally answered back

Lyra hair would look like it was on fire as the evenings dragged on so Gally created the nickname for her. Lyra on the other hand didn't really like it.

Newt walked up to her, "Are you sure you are going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I have beaten Gally loads of times. You know this." Lyra responded

"Just be careful" Newt stepped away and entered the crowd encircling Gally and Lyra.

Lyra put her fists up and Gally squared himself to her. Gally started moving toward her and she pushed back. She let Gally fall to the ground. Gally sprang up and knocked Lyra down. Lyra rolled back and forth trying to prevent Gally from pinning her down and winning. Lyra swung her feet and kicked Gally down to the ground. As Gally fell Lyra spun herself up. She put her foot on his chest.

"Gotcha" Lyra said triumphantly as the crowd cheered

"See greenie it is pretty easy" Lyra said as she walked toward the greenie and Newt.

The greenie stepped up to the arena as the whole camp chanted "greenie"

Lyra stood next to Newt.

The fight consisted of some name calling from Gally and pushing and shoving. At one point the greenie managed to get Gally to the ground.

"Not bad for a greenie, huh?" The greenie said

Gally swung his legs tripping the greenie. The greenie hit the ground hard. The crowd moaned with sympathy.

"He a Runner." Lyra whispered to Newt.

Lyra knew this greenie was their ticket out of the maze.

The greenie's eyes widen with remembrance. He whispered something to himself, then stood up

"I remember my name. I'm Thomas." The greenie shouted to the crowd.

Alby cheered, "Thomas!"

Causing the whole camp to cheer, clap, and laugh. The crowd clumped together around Thomas as Gally shook Thomas' hand. Cheers echoed through the air. Lyra looked to Newt, they smiled at each other. She was happy at that moment, nothing else mattered. Until a metallic, blood curdling shriek echoed from the maze. The shriek caused Lyra's heart to freeze in fear and she bolted from the group. She ran into the wooded area of the Glade until she came across the stone wall. Memories flashing through her brain as she recited, "71526483...71526483...71526483...71526483...71526483..."

This was the only thing she knew that would calm her down. When Newt found her, a little while later, she knew her veins were still glowing a shimmery blue. Newt hugged her as she cried in his chest.

Newt brought her back to the camp as the rest of the Gladers were heading to bed.

"Get some rest you are running tomorrow" Alby told Lyra.

Newt walked Lyra to the entrance of her tent. He kissed her goodnight before going on last security rounds with Alby.


	4. Recurring Nightmare

Recurring Nightmare

Lyra stood in the sun with the grey stone walls surrounding her. She was inside the maze. Lyra followed the path. She came upon a wall covered in ivy. She looked around, she saw Newt lying on the ground. He was in pain, his leg was bloody and bent in a funny way. She tried to reach him but something stopped her. She heard the shrieking of the Griever coming closer, then she heard the metallic steps of the Griever. Lyra fought hard through the invisible barrier, but she still couldn't move. The Griever appeared as a dark green slug with little arms and four metal legs. A syringe like stinger protruded from a leg. The Griever stuck the syringe into Newt's bleeding leg. Newt let out a cry of pain. Lyra cried out of frustration. With a fire in her heart she pushed through to get to the Griever. She pulled an arrow out of the quiver on her back and attached it to the bow that had appeared in her right hand. Time seemed to be moving slower. Lyra pulled back the bow and then let go which caused the arrow to fly into the Griever, killing it instantly. Lyra dropped her quiver and bow and knelt by Newt.

"I know I can help, please Newt let me help you. I can't lose you too." Lyra cried.

"I don't want to lose you either, Lyra." Newt said weakly.

Lyra got up and started running back and forth in front of Newt. Her mother, her father, her aunt, WCKD, and their plans flashed in her brain. Lyra was worried about the shock in Newt's eyes as she stopped running and went back to him. Her veins glowed a glittery blue which caused most of her veins to be visible in her skin. She picked up Newt's knife and winced in pain as she cut her forearm. The blood that flowed from her cut was heavily marbled with thick lines of glittery blue liquid. There was more of the blue liquid than red blood flowing out. She grabbed an empty glass jar and let her oddly colorful blood pour into the jar. After a while she started to wrap the cut in some scrap cloth and handed the jar to Newt, who then drank the blue liquid blood mixture. After he finished he fainted to the floor, contorted in pain, scrambled to his hands and knees, and threw up a lot of black liquid that resembled runny black tar.

Newt then got up, but as he did the sky above the maze turned to night. The Grievers' shrieking resumed. This time there were more and the shrieking was louder. It sounded as though it was all around them. Newt held Lyra close as they saw a Griever approaching them. Then there was silence, nothing. Just pitch black silent nothing. Lyra turned and found herself alone in the nothingness. Voices in her head began to speak.

"You are the reason this is happening," a female voice spoke

"You are the cure," a male voice chimed in

"WCKD is good," a another female voice added

"Daughter of the maze...Humanity's last hope...Find the cure…" the voices blended together and repeated the same statements.

The voices sounded as though they surrounded her in the darkness. Lyra put her hands to her ears and let out a scream.


	5. Day 1248

Day 1248

Lyra bolted up from her nightmare. Sweat was streaming down her face. She glanced at her palms, as she thought blue. She took some deep breaths, trying to calm down. She noticed Minho, Ben and the other Runners waiting for her a little ways off. She put her Runner's pack and gloves on as she made her way out to them. She glanced to her right, Alby was making his way to Thomas. She smiled a little, it was a tradition for Alby to help welcome the newbie to the Glade. She glanced at the side wall, a wall she knew was covered in names. The Runners paired off. Lyra was paired with Ben, as usual. Minho went with another runner. They would run separate paths. They had been running a while when Ben looked to Lyra,

"Did you have a nightmare again?"

"Yeah" Lyra knew there was no point lying to Ben about it

"Did you tell him?" Ben asked

Lyra looked to Ben confused, "Who?"

"The one person in this Glade who loves you more than me" Ben said in a joking manner.

Ben was like Lyra protective slightly older brother. They even looked similar, both has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. They had been friend since Ben became a Runner. He was the only other person besides Alby that knew that Lyra and Newt loved each other.

"No. I don't want him to worry." Lyra stated after a moment.

Lyra stopped, she looked at her arms. The veins in her forearms were glowing blue. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. The warning signs were too clear for Lyra to ignore.

"Ben, run!" Lyra screamed.

Lyra turned and ran. She could hear Ben behind her. She sprinted through the maze and didn't stop until she saw Minho further down a path. She turned around, Ben was not behind her. Fear and worried crept into Lyra's skin. She ran slowly back the way she came. A few times she thought she caught glimpses of the back of Ben. She followed those glimpses until she found herself at the entrance of the maze. She looked out at the Glade. Trying to see Ben, but he was nowhere in sight. She scanned the groups until she spotted someone who could help, Newt. She walked up to Newt who was with Thomas and Zart.

"The only way out of here is through the maze." Newt said to Thomas as Lyra walked up.

"Hey, Newt" Lyra said

"Hey," There was some surprise in Newt's voice, " Aren't you supposed to be running?"

"Have you seen Alby?" Lyra asked

"Not for a while, I'm afraid." Zart answered.

Newt turned his attention back to Thomas, "You want to be helpful? Dig us up some more fertilizer."

Newt threw a basket back to Thomas, who in turn walked off towards the woods.

"If you do can you tell him I need to talk to him immediately." Lyra said watching Thomas walk off.

"Sure." Newt responded, "What is it about?"

"I don't want to worry you if I don't have to." Lyra said walking off.

Lyra walked around looking for Alby or Ben. Lyra then decided to try looking in the woods. Lyra heard some fighting noises over an embankment. She saw Ben on top of Thomas, Ben was holding Thomas throat. She picked up a rock and hit Ben over the head with it. Tears streamed down her face as she helped Thomas to his feet.

"Run" She yelled at him.

She followed Thomas closely as they ran, Ben closely on their heels. Ben lunged at Thomas causing both of them to fall down the other side of the embankment of dirt. Thomas got free from Ben as they fell. Lyra was running along side of Thomas.

"Help" Lyra screamed as they neared the camp.

Lyra was sure that Newt could hear her. As they reached the outskirts of the camp Ben lunged at Thomas, causing Thomas to trip, which in turned tripped Lyra. Lyra scrambled trying to pull Ben off of Thomas as the other Gladers ran towards them. Ben didn't get off Thomas until Newt hit him over the head with a shovel, causing Ben to turn onto his back. Gally, Newt, Lyra and a few other Gladers held Ben down.

Tears streamed from Lyra's face again. _Not another friend. Not Ben. _ The other Gladers were a buzz of questions to Ben.

"What happened." Frypan asked

"He just attacked me." Thomas replied.

"I am so sorry. I'm sorry… I thought he was right behind me." Lyra said breathless.

"Lyra. What happened?" Newt looked into Lyra's eyes.

She could feel the whole crowd looking at her.

"We were in the maze. I felt something with us. We ran. When I was safe I turned, but no Ben. I went looking for him found him fighting with Thomas." Lyra said really fast.

"Lift his shirt" Alby ordered.

Some of the Gladers lifted Ben's tank top up revealing a puncture wound on his side stomach. The veins were already visibly black. Lyra cried when she saw.

"He's been stung, in the middle of the day?" remarked Gally

"I'm so sorry Ben." Lyra cried as she began rocking back and forth

Under her breath she began to repeat the numbers, "71526483...71526483…"

Ben's pleas for help were too much for Lyra to bear.

"Put him in the Pit" Alby ordered again.

While Gally, Newt and other Gladers put Ben into the Pit. Alby helped Lyra back to her tent.

"I can help him. Alby I need to help him." Lyra pleaded as Alby sat her on her hammock.

"No Lyra you know the rules. If you did that others would have questions. Questions that would lead to the violence we have gotten over. We as a group cannot go through that again." Alby remarked.

Just then Newt appeared in the tent, "I don't think she should run again."

"Newt don't let your feelings for her cloud your judgement. She is the best chance we got." Alby stood in front of Newt.

"I don't want to run. At least for a while." Lyra piped up.

Newt pushed past Alby and sat next to her, "You don't have do, if you don't want to."

Newt put his arm around her and held her close to him. He knew she just lost one more person she cared about to those things in the maze.

"Newt is right. You don't have to run if that is your choice." And with that Alby left them sitting on her hammock.


	6. The Banishment of a Brother

The Banishment of a Brother

Though Ben was not her actual brother, Lyra always thought of him like one. Although many of the banishments have been hard, the banishment of Ben was the hardest for Lyra. She knew this had to be done. The Gladers crowded around the entrance to the maze. Gally, Newt, Lyra, Alby, Frypan, and Zart all held long T shaped sticks,others held pointed stakes. The rest where behind the ones with the pointed stakes. Ben walked toward them with his hand tied with rope behind his back, Minho was leading Ben by the back of Ben's tank top. Ben pleaded with everyone. Minho lead Ben right in front of the opening, had Ben kneel down and cut the ropes that tied Ben's hands. Minho then threw a sack of supplies into the maze and stepped out of the way. Ben coughed up some black runny liquid and pleaded with Minho. The doors started to close. Alby ordered for the poles. Gally, Newt, Lyra, Frypan, Alby, and Zart lowered their poles so that the blunt end of the T shape was facing Ben. The other with the pointed stakes, pointed the sharp ends at Ben. As the door continued to close, Alby order his group to move in. Gally, Newt, Lyra, Frypan, Alby and Zart slowly walked towards Ben, pushing Ben towards the maze. The kept advancing until Ben was in the maze and the doors slammed closed. Ben has been pleaded and crying throughout this ordeal. When the door finally closed Lyra could not hold back the tears anymore. She felt as though a piece of her heart had been ripped out of her chest. Alby made some speech about how the person they forced into the maze was not Ben. It didn't matter what Alby said, Lyra still felt an emptiness grow inside of her. Lyra felt numb the rest of the day. Gally or Minho knew not to talk to her. Alby tried, but was met with silence and a death stare. During dinner she sat alone.

"What is wrong with Lyra?" Thomas asked during dinner.

"Ben was like Lyra brother." Newt replied.

"Ooh." Thomas replied, he got the feeling he should stop asking about it.

Darkness had fallen when Newt walked Lyra into her tent. He turned to leave.

"Don't go." Lyra said.

"Okay I won't" Newt replied.

Newt laid down in Lyra hammock. Lyra laid down next to him. He put his arm around her and she rested her hand on his chest.

"Would you ever break that rule?" Newt asked staring up at the tent ceiling.

"Yes, I did for you." Lyra responded.

Lyra closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of Gally crossing off Ben's name on the side of the maze wall, Gladers walking around the sleeping quarters, and Newt's breathing.

"Why don't you want to run tomorrow? I mean I know Ben's banishment affected you, but you have ran after other banishments." Newt asked again.

"What happened to Ben reminded me of what happened to you when I found you in the maze. But this time I couldn't do anything. I felt helpless. I don't like that feeling. At least in the Glade I can feel helpful." Lyra said looking up at Newt.

She heard footstep approach her tent. Alby appeared at the entrance of the tent,

"We need to talk with Minho about figuring out what happened."

Lyra and Newt sat up.

"Only if you are up to it." Newt said comforting Lyra.

"Sure" Lyra said drying her eyes.

Alby stuck out his head out of the tent for a second and Minho appeared besides Alby.

"Alby and I want to check out where the attack took place." Minho said

"Um… We were by the outskirts of sector 7 still in the inner maze, but close to that sector." Lyra said softly.

"Thank you Lyra. I know this is hard for you." Minho said as he left the tent.

"Thanks Minho." Lyra responded.

"Good night, both of you." Alby said as he left

"Good night" Newt responded.

Newt and Lyra laid back down in the hammock.

Lyra heard Thomas ask Chuck, "Do you think he will survive?"

"Ben...No. Nobody survives a night in the maze." Chuck responded.

Lyra was pulled out back to Newt,"I love you Lyra." Newt said as he kissed her forehead.

"I love you too, Newt" Lyra responded as she nestled her head by his chest.

He pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arm around her. Lyra fell asleep in his arms, her favorite place to be.


	7. Day 1249

Day 1249

Lyra awoke the next morning with Alby nudging her. Newt and her got out the of hammock and went over to entrance of the maze, where Minho was waiting. Lyra hugged both Alby and Minho as the stone doors opened.

"Please be careful." Lyra looked to Alby

"I will. Take care of the Glade." Alby replied

"We will." Newt answered looking at Lyra

"Stay safe and keep running." Lyra commented to Minho.

Minho winked, turned, and started running into the maze followed by Alby.

Lyra and Newt turned and walked away from the maze.

Newt saw the look of concern in Lyra's eye, "They are going to make it." He said as intertwined his fingers with hers.

Lyra looked as Newt and smiled

"What was that about?" Gally yelled from a little ways away from them.

Lyra and Newt separated from each other at the sound of Gally's voice.

"Alby went with Minho to the place where Ben was stung to see if there was anything about the place that was odd." Lyra replied.

"Why didn't you go?" Gally looked to Lyra.

"Because with Alby away the chain of command comes into play, making Lyra second now and not a runner." Newt explained.

That explanation satisfied Gally, who went to get breakfast. After breakfast Lyra helped Newt, Zart, Chuck, and Thomas cut down the bottom of a dead tree. Thomas was sitting on a log taking a quick break.

They worked in almost silence until Thomas asked, "Why would Alby go into the maze?"

Lyra and Newt exchanged a glance

"I mean he is not a runner." Thomas added

"Things are different now." Newt started, "Alby went to retrace Ben's route before sundown."

"Alby is going back to the place where Ben was just stung?" Thomas asked with shock in his voice.

"Look Alby knows what he is doing." Lyra chimed in, "He knows better than any of us."

"What does that mean?" Thomas asked

Lyra was getting a little sick of Thomas' questions.

"It's like you heard, right. Every month the box comes up with supplies and a new arrival. But someone had to be first. That was Alby." Newt explained, hacking away at the tree stump, "He had to spend a whole month in the maze by himself. It couldn't have been easy. But when he saw all the others come up one after the other, he learned the most important thing is that we all have each other. Cause we are all in this together."

There was silence again. Thomas got up from the log and helped dig out the stump.

"Don't worry they will be back before lunch." Lyra added.

When lunchtime rolled around Thomas looked anxiously around at the opened entrance of the maze.

"They are just being thorough. We will be back soon" Lyra reassured Thomas.

It started raining after lunch so everyone took cover in the sheltered parts of camp, except Lyra. Lyra was nervous and like to run back and forth when she was nervous. In the rain she ran from one end of the Glade to the other.

"What is she doing?" Thomas asked Newt.

"She gets restless." Newt responded.

Newt went out as Lyra was making her way towards the middle of the Glade.

"Hey, your glowing a little." Newt commented, making Lyra stop.

He handed her a water bottle filled with the bright blue liquid with the letters WCKD on the side.

Lyra drank a few gulps of the stuff. The glowing in her veins died down.

"Come inside the camp for a while." Newt said leading Lyra back to where he, Thomas, and a few other Gladers were sheltering from the rain.

"They should be back by now." Thomas stated as Newt and Lyra walked by, " What happens if they don't make it."

"They are gonna make it." Newt said.

"What if they don't?" Thomas asked again.

Newt turned and looked at Thomas in the eyes, "They are going to make it."


	8. Bad Decision

Bad Decision

The day had grown long when the rain had stopped and the ground was dry enough to venture to the entrance of the maze. The entire population of the Glade was standing around the opened stone doors of the maze. Newt was to Lyra's right, Thomas to her left. The maze started to make cranking sounds.

"Come on can't we send someone after them?" Thomas asked.

"It is against the rules." Gally answered.

"We can't risk sending anyone else into the maze." Newt clarified.

The wind began to howl and the doors started to close, when Thomas saw Minho and Alby making their way to the entrance. However, something was wrong. Lyra saw it too. Minho was dragging Alby, who looked unconscious, towards the closing doors. The crowd started yelling at Minho and cheering him on.

"You got to leave him, Minho" Gally yelled

"You can do it Minho" Chuck yelled

"They are not going to make it" Newt said to Lyra.

Time seemed to move slower. Lyra glanced at Thomas, he was thinking about doing the exact same thing she was. In order for them to all survive she needed to be in the maze too. She reached to Newt's back pocket and pulled out his large blade. The handle was stained with a few drops of red liquid that had long since dried.

"I am sorry… I love you. I will always come running back to you." Lyra whispered to Newt.

"What?" Newt asked.

The doors were about to close when Lyra nudged Thomas to run. As she left where she was standing she could feel the fingertips of Newt trying to stop her, but she couldn't lose more friends. She sprinted closely behind Thomas into the maze. The doors shut right behind her as she entered the maze. Thomas had fallen to the ground and was trying to get up.

Minho fell to his knees, clearly exhausted, "Congratulations, you just killed yourself." He said breathlessly.

"What?" Thomas asked

Lyra rolled her eyes,"Stop being melodramatic."

She walked to Alby and examined him. Alby has been stung. There was a cut on his forehead.

"I did what I had to." Minho explained.

"Wait. What do you mean about being melodramatic" Thomas asked Lyra.

Lyra heard Thomas but was so busy to turn to him. She was examining the bunches of ivy that were growing up the wall.

"The biggest lie is that no one had survived a night in the maze." Lyra said, still examining the ivy.

"What who?" Thomas asked

Lyra turned her head to look at Thomas.

"Me." Lyra responded, she turned back to a bunch of the ivy, cleared some of it back, pulling out a quiver full of arrows, a bow and fingerless gloves with a blue circle in the palms of each glove.

"How did you know those where there?" Thomas asked

Lyra gave a look to Thomas, "I didn't enter the Glade from the box…"

"I guess I had almost just assumed you did" Thomas interrupted.

"I entered the Glade from the maze." Lyra gave a quick glance to Minho before looking ahead toward the rest of the maze, "We don't have time to stand around gawking. Come on we need to find a safe place for Alby."

Thomas and Minho carried Alby as Lyra lead them further into the maze.


	9. Another Night in the Maze

Another Night in the Maze

The sky had grown dark as Minho, Thomas and Lyra tried to lift Alby into a wall of ivy to keep him safe. The cranking of the walls changing started to scare Minho. However, it wasn't until Minho had looked around a corner did he run away from them, which caused Thomas slide toward the ivy wall. The veins in her forearms were glowing blue. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end.

"Hide" Lyra whispered

Both her and Thomas hid under the ivy. Soon they heard the clanking steps of a metal legged Griever. The Griever slowly walked by. Lyra held her breath, fighting back tears and bad memories. The Griever walked away, her glowing veins stopped and she returned to normal. Lyra and Thomas crept out from their hiding spot. They quickly secured Alby to the ivy. Lyra forearm started to glow again. They hid behind a wall of the maze. They heard the clanking of a Griever, but then silence. Her forearm was still glowing. Thomas wanted to move, but Lyra stopped him.

"It's gone." He whispered.

"No, it's out." Lyra showed her forearm to Thomas.

"What does that prove?" Thomas asked.

"It is a warning that those grievers are nearby." Lyra snapped back.

"Nearby, but not right next to us." Thomas pointed out.

Lyra could not argue with that. She just kept on her toes. They walked around for a little bit, until Thomas stepped into something pale yellow and sticky. Lyra turned around to look at Thomas, when the pale yellow sticky oozed from the sky onto Thomas' shoulder. They looked up, a Griever came sliding down the walls of the Maze. crashing almost on top of Thomas. Lyra grabbed Thomas and pushed him in front of her as they ran away, the Griever taking chase. Lyra yelled directions at Thomas as they ran. They soon reached a dead end.

"Up" Lyra directed jumping on some rocks, making her way up the wall.

Thomas followed suit, the Griever right behind them. The ran along the top of the wall until they reached the end of the wall. Across from them was a wall of ivy.

"Down" Lyra directed again, jumping towards the ivy.

Thomas stared at Lyra was she reached the ground. Thomas jumped and grabbed the ivy. The Griever jumped too. The weight of the Griever was too much for the ivy, it, the Griever and Thomas came crashing down. Thomas landed safely, while the Griever was tangled in the ivy. Lyra took that time to slice at the Griever with Newt's blade. When Lyra turned back to Thomas, Minho appeared from Thomas's left.

"You are crazy" Minho panted.

Lyra was just happy that Minho was alive. The Griever started to untangle itself from the ivy. Minho, Thomas, and Lyra ran the way Minho had just come from. Lyra could hear the Griever right behind them.

"This way, come on… The maze is changing." Minho said leading through the maze.

They reached a long pathway that was starting to close.

"This area is closing, we can lose it done here." Minho said running through the pathway.

Lyra followed suited. They waited on the other end of the closing pathway. Thomas just stood at the original spot.

"Come on" Thomas yelled at something hidden by the wall of the maze.

Lyra assumed it was the Griever.

Suddenly Thomas sprinted towards them, the Griever behind them. The doors closing as he ran. Thomas just made it through as the doors slammed closed, squishing and killing the Griever. Minho and Thomas took deep breaths. Lyra looked around, she knew where she was.

"Come on…I know a safe place to stay." Lyra said

Lyra ran through the maze followed by Minho and Thomas, until she reached a wall covered in ivy. She pulled back the ivy revealing a hole in the wall. It was dark, but somehow streams of light were getting in from above them. Lyra light a match and them proceed to light a candle. The space illuminated in a warm orange color. Thomas looked around. The space seemed to have been scraped out, it was large enough to stand in. There was a large sleeping bag laid out on the ground with several other sleeping bags on top of it.

"This is where I stayed in the maze." Lyra said.

"I didn't know this place existed." Minho mused.

"No one does. Not even Alby." Lyra answered.

This is where they stayed the rest of the night. Lyra woke up just as the dawn was approaching. The doors would be opening soon. She woke Thomas and Minho up. They made they way to where they hid Alby, got him down, and made they way to the entrance of the Maze. Before they turned to corner to the entrance Lyra hid her gloves and bow and arrows in the bush of ivy.


	10. A Morning Many Thought Impossible

A Morning Many Thought Impossible

The noise of the maze doors opening caused Newt to jolt up from his sleep. He, Chuck, Frypan, Zart and many other Gladers had slept by the entrance of the maze hoping that Minho and Lyra would be there smiling at them when the doors opened. As the door revealed the maze, Newt's heart sank. No one was waiting for them.

"Told you Chuck, they are not coming back." Newt said with sadness in his voice.

He just lost the one person he really ever loved. Lyra meant more to him, then getting out of the Glade. Newt and many of the Gladers turned and walked back towards camp. Chuck stayed at the entrance.

When Lyra turned the corner, she expected to see Newt waiting for her. She saw Newt's back walking away from her, her heart sank a little. Lyra did see Chuck in the middle of the entrance way. She saw Zart turn and walk back towards them.

"Yeah." Chuck cheered as they reached the opened door of the maze.

This caused everyone to stop and turn back towards the maze. Lyra ran ahead of Minho and Thomas, who were both carrying Alby. She sprinted past Zart, Chuck, Clint, Jeff, Frypan and the other Gladers. There was one person she wanted to see, Newt. She slowed as she neared him and gave him a hug.

"I will always run back to you." Lyra whispered into Newt's ear.

Newt held her tighter. She pulled back from him a little bit and pressed her lips to his, in front of everyone. She then turned back to help Minho and Thomas lay Alby down on the ground.

"You saw a Griever?" Chuck asked

"Yeah" Thomas replied.

"He didn't just see one…" Minho started.

"He killed one." Lyra finished.

The crowd looked at Thomas.

Gally called an emergency meeting at the large wooden structure, the Gladers called the Counsel Hall, by the outskirts of the Glade against the wall of the maze.

The leaders of the different job around the Glade,Winston, Zart, Minho, Gally, Clint, Frypan, stood at the bottom of mud stairs. Lyra and Newt were among them, representing Glader leadership. Thomas was in the corner at the bottom of the stairs, behind the leaders of the Glade.

There was mumbling from the rest of the Gladers, who were sitting on the mud steps.

"Things are changing" Gally spoke to the group, "There is no denying that. First Ben gets stung in broad daylight, then Alby. Now a greenie here as taken it upon himself to go into the maze. Which is a clear violation of our rules here."

"Yeah, but he saved Alby's life." Frypan responded.

"Did he?" Gally asked

No one wanted to answer that question.

"For 3 years we have coexisted with these things." Gally started

"Coexisted...Please Gally. Those things prey on us. They are the predator, we are prey. That is not coexistence." Lyra interrupted.

"But now the greenie has killed one of them." Gally continued pointing at Thomas, "Who knows what that could mean for us."

"What would you suggest we do." Newt finally spoke.

"He has to be punished." Gally answered.

Gally's answer caused an eruption of talking from the other Gladers.

"Minho...You were there with him. What do you think?" Newt looked to Minho

Minho was silent for a while, which cause the Gladers to be quiet.

"I think, in all the time we have been here no one has ever killed a Griever before." Minho stated

Lyra rolled her eyes, she killed many. But she didn't say anything, Alby's rules. The others must think she came up from the box just like them.

"When I turned tail and ran, this dumb shank stayed behind to help Alby. I don't know if he is brave or stupid. Whatever it is we need more of it. I say we make him a Runner." Minho finished.

This also caused an outburst by the rest of the Gladers. Lyra smiled, she knew it. She gave an i-told-you-so glance to Newt.

"If you want to throw the newbie a parade that's fine. Okay, but the one thing I know about the maze is that you do not-" Gally couldn't finish his thought because an all to familiar sound echoed across the Glade.

The box was bring something up.

Lyra, Newt and Gally exchanged glances. Lyra bolted up the steps and out of the hall, followed by Newt and Gally then the rest of the Gladers. She ran to the box entrance, Newt and Gally caught up to her. A crowd was forming around the box's doors. Newt and Gally opened the metal doors. Newt hopped down into the box. Lyra looked over the edge. There was a girl with brown curly hair lying on the floor of the box surrounded by many plastic bottles full of the blue liquid. Surprise flushed over Lyra. Lyra mumbles the number sequence that calmed her over and over again, "71526483...71526483…"


	11. A New Arrival and a Dissection

A New Arrival and A Dissection

"It's a girl" Newt said, slightly astonished by the sight.

A girl has never been sent to the Glader via the box. Lyra, the only other girl in the Glade had found the Glade while she was wondering the maze.

"I think she's dead." Newt said.

The girl was wearing a blue long sleeved shirt and blue jeans. Newt looked around the girl for anything that might explain what is going on.

"What is in her hand?" Gally asked.

Newt took out a crumpled piece of paper out of her hand. He opened it, it was a note.

"She is the last one ever." Newt read the note out loud, "What the hell does that mean?"

The girl bolted up gasping for air. Looking up at the sky with piercing blue eyes.

"Thomas" she said breathless as she fell unconscious.

The crowd looked to Thomas.

"Do you still think I am overreacting?" Gally asked.

Jeff, Clint, and some other carried the girl into the medical hut and laid her down on a cot on the other side of a curtain from Alby, who was tied down the the bed. Newt, Minho, and Lyra walked in followed by Thomas.

"What is the matter with her, why won't she wake up?" Newt asked looking to Jeff.

"Hey man, I got my job the same way you did." Jeff answered.

Newt looked to Thomas

"Do you recognize her." Newt asked.

"No" Thomas replied.

"She seemed to recognize you." Lyra said looking to the girl on the cot.

"What about the note?" Thomas asked

"We will worry about it later." Newt replied

"I think you should worry about now" Thomas stated.

"We have enough to deal with at the moment." Lyra shot back.

Clint, Jeff, Minho, Thomas and Newt looked at each other. Lyra stared back the girl, she seemed familiar, but Lyra was still unsure.

"He is right Newt. The box is not going back down. How long do you think he can last." Jeff added.

"No one said that. Let's not jump to any conclusions. We will wait till she wakes up and see what she knows." Newt stated, "Somebody has to have some answers around here."

Lyra looked away from everyone. She knew that person was her. Unlike everyone else that entered the maze, Lyra still had her memories before the maze. They had returned slowly with time and a few stings from the Grievers. She couldn't say anything, Alby's rules. Lyra just knew that they didn't have much time left to find a way out.

"Okay." Thomas said as he left the hut.

"Where are you going?" Newt asked

"Back into the maze." Thomas said leaving.

Minho and Lyra followed him out.

"Hey, Thomas." Minho called out after Thomas, catching up to him, "What is this with you, huh? A death wish? You just got out now you want back in?"

"Newt said that no one has ever seen a Griever and lived to tell about it. Now we have one. And you are not even just a little bit curious?" Thomas pleaded.

Lyra just kept quiet, Alby's rules.

"No." Minho replied.

Thomas started to walk off, but Minho stopped him.

"So what is the plan? Are you going to dissect that thing all by yourself?" Minho asked.

"I will if I have to." Thomas answered.

"Have the other Runners left yet?" Thomas asked

"The other Runners quit this morning." Minho pointed to the group of Runners talking to Gally.

Rage filled Lyra's core. _Cowards_ she thought.

"Why are you so anxious to get back out there?" Lyra asked Thomas, but she was looking at Minho.

"I think it is time to find out what we are really up against." Thomas said

Minho and Lyra exchanged glances.

"Okay, but you are not going out there alone. Meet us in the woods in half an hour." Minho replied.

"Okay." Thomas answered.

Lyra ran to her tent and pulled out a blag fold open bag. The letters WCKD were written in white along the side. She went to the medical hut again where Newt was still taking to Jeff and Clint.

"Newt I need to talk to you for a second." Lyra said leading Next out of the hut and away from the other Gladers.

"I am going back in the maze fore a little bit." Lyra said

Newt looked at her frustrated.

"I thought I lost you once today. I can't bear to think about you going back out there again. Why are you going?" Newt said holding Lyra's hands.

"I want to find out where the Grievers are coming from. Maybe that is a way out." Lyra said hugging Newt.

Newt let go of her, she turned to walk away. She felt Newt grab her wrist and spin her back to him, he pressed his lips against hers.

"Be careful." He said as they separated.

"I will always come running back to you." Lyra said looking Newt in his pale brown eyes.

She met Thomas in the woods. A little while later, Minho arrived with Frypan, Winston, and Zart.

"Will this be enough?" Minho asked

"Yeah" Thomas answered.

"Whatever I revealed in the maze needs to stay between all of us, clear?" Lyra stated.

The group agreed. With that they took off towards the maze. It didn't take long before they reached the dead Griever that was stuck by the wall. The wall hadn't closed all the way, Lyra was able to fit. She pulled out a scalpel and started cutting the Griever open.

"How do you know where to cut?" Asked Frypan.

"I know, because I created these things." Lyra answered not turning around to the rest of the group.

"What. You created this killing things?" Zart asked shock clearly present in his voice.

"No Zart. I didn't make these things to kill. I created small ones to help with vaccinations. Someone just created those same creation with a larger scale. It is not that difficult to do." Lyra answered, digging around in the Griever.

"Hey there is something in there." Thomas pointed to a blinking light.

"Yeah. That is what I am trying to reach." Lyra said reaching for the light.

As she did the leg of the Griever moved. Everyone, including Lyra, backed away from the wall.

"I thought you said it was dead" Frypan stated.

"Maybe it is a reflex?" Suggested Zart.

"You hope" Winston shot back.

"Help me with the leg" Lyra said reaching for the metal leg that had just moved.

Everyone grabbed the leg and pulled, causing the leg to detach from the Griever. Minho walked toward the blinking light. It was a silver cylindrical object with a little screen that shown 7 and the WCKD where printed on the side.

"Where ever it is can we take this stuff back to the Glade. I don't want to meet this guy's friends" Frypan pleaded looking around nervously.

"Yeah, it's getting late" Lyra chimed in.

The group headed back to the Glade. When they entered the Glade they were informed that Gally was holding a meeting for the leaders of the Glade. The group made their way to the Counsel Hall.


	12. Decision, Talks, Runs, and Rocks

Decisions, Talks, Runs, and Rocks

Clint and Jeff where leaving as Lyra, Minho, Winton, Zart, Frypan, and Thomas filed in.

"It is nice of you to join us." Gally said getting up from the step, "You guys enjoy the little field trip?"

"What the hell Gally, you think you have have a meeting of the Keepers without us?" Minho shot back.

"The last time I checked the greenie wasn't a Keeper. Do you mind waiting outside?" Gally looked at Thomas.

"No he stays" Lyra stated.

"What is the point of all this?" Minho asked

Lyra looked to Newt, "Is it about Alby?"

Newt nodded, Lyra started tearing up.

"We got two hours before sundown, he have to figure out what to do with him." Newt stated.

"You want to banish him?" Winton asked

"Nobody wants to…" Gally stated

"Then don't. I can save him. And you both know it." Lyra said looking at Newt and Gally.

"Alby's rules…" Gally started.

"Too hell with Alby's rules. I need to save him. He wouldn't let me save Ben I have to do this." Lyra screamed through tears.

She turned away, she knew Newt hated to see her cry. She wiped her eyes and turned back.

"We found this on our field trip" Thomas chimed in handing Newt the silver cylindrical object. Newt looked it over, "This are the same letters we get on our supplies."

"Who ever put us here made the Grievers." Thomas said looking to Lyra.

Lyra and Thomas exchanged a glance.

"What does Lyra have to do with the Grievers." Gally asked looking to Newt.

"Lyra was the original creator of the Grievers." Newt said looking at Lyra, "She had sketches of them in that journal of hers. But the ones she made were smaller."

"What? What else does she know and not telling us." Gally said flabbergasted.

"Nothing. That is all I know." Lyra stated firmly, though it was an outright lie.

She knew a whole lot more than she told anyone even Newt or Alby, for their protection. She would have to tell them sooner or later, but right now She needed to focus on the task at hand helping Alby.

"Newt we got to back out there." Thomas pleaded.

Gally and Newt exchange glances.

"You see what is trying to do right. First he breaks our rules, then he wants us to abandon them altogether." Gally pleaded to Newt, "The are the only thing that have held us together, why are we now questioning them. If Alby was here you know he would agree with me. This shank, needs to be punished."

"Gally's right, Thomas broke the rules. One night in the pit no food." Newt stated

"What do you think that is going to stop him?" Gally asked.

"No and we cannot have non-Runners running into the maze whenever then feel like it. So let's just make it official, starting from tomorrow. You are a runner." Newt stated, "And Lyra try your best with Alby, we need him back."

Gally shook his head in a mix of shock and shame at Newt's leadership. He stormed out, Frypan and Winston followed after him to talk to him. Minho took Thomas to the Runners hut to talk to him. Zart, Newt and Lyra walked out to the middle of the Glade. Lyra took off her Runner's gear and set it down. Newt got out a knife and found an empty jar. Zart got Clint and Jeff. The commotion caused more Gladers to wonder about what was going on. Lyra started running one end of the meadow to the other. Voices started echoing in her head as she ran

"You are the reason this is happening," a female voice spoke

"You are the cure," a male voice chimed in

"WCKD is good," a another female voice added

"Daughter of the maze...Humanity's last hope...Find the cure…" the voices blended together and repeated the same statements.

Lyra kept running back and forth with the voices in her head. She felt her blood pulse throughout her body, a sign it was changing. She looked at her arms, sure enough, they started show the veins glowing blue. She stopped running and Newt handed her the knife and jar. She pressed the cold blade onto her forearm. She was about to make the cut when another voice rang out in her head, it was Alby's, "You pose more questions than answers, you could start a ton of violence. If the Gladers knew, war could break out."

War had broken out over Lyra and her blood, from leaders of the Glade finding out she was able to help those who were stung.

Lyra looked up at the crowd around her. Their expression ranged from hopefulness and surprise to shock and scaredness. She looked to Gally, who was staring at her angrily. She looked at Newt and shook her head. She fell to her knees crying. Newt walked up to her.

"I'm sorry. He is in my head. I can't do it." Lyra sobbed.

Newt helped her up and hugged her. Lyra cried into his shoulder. He held her closer to him. All of a sudden the girl from the box ran out of the medical hut and up the tree to the platform. Attention was turned to her and away from Lyra. Anyone who tried to get close to the tree was met with a hail of rocks. Chuck stood back laughing. Minho and Thomas soon appeared. Thomas took shelter next to Lyra.

"I don't think she likes us very much." Newt said

"Hey woah…" Lyra was having enough of this, she then remember the girl, "Teresa...Thomas is here and wants to talk to you."

The rock throwing stopped and Teresa's head looking over the edge. Thomas put a hand up.

"Just me, okay." Thomas order.

Thomas started towards the tree while the rest of the Gladers went back to their routine chores and jobs.

"Is this what all girls are like?" Frypan asked

Lyra laughed as she walked with Newt to the medical hut. The next thing Lyra knew, Thomas and Teresa burst through the medical and handed Newt two vials of a blue shimmery liquid.

"We don't know what it does or why she had it?" Newt stated after talking with Thomas.

"How could it make it any worse?" Thomas finally asked

"Alright." Newt said, "Do it."

Newt handed the vial back to Thomas, who exposed the needle on the end of it. Thomas leaded over Alby, aiming the vial at Alby's heart. Alby grabbed Thomas, "You shouldn't be here.." He repeated over and over again.

Jeff, Clint, Newt, Teresa and Lyra were trying to hold Alby down. Alby calmed down when Teresa stuck the vial into Alby's chest. Alby soon fell unconscious.

"Well that worked" Jeff commented.

"From now on someone watches him around the clock." Newt ordered.

Just then Gally appeared in the hut, "Hey Greenie, sundown. Time to go."

Thomas followed Gally to the Pit. Gally locked the wooden caged door and walked away.

That night Lyra slept in Newt's tent, which was located near the medical tent, so that she and Newt could be closer to Alby if something was to happen.


	13. Day 1251: Solving the Maze

Day 1251: Solving the Maze

Lyra awoke and kissed Newt on the forehead. She slipped out of the tent and met Minho and Thomas as they were walking to the entrance of the maze.

"If it is the way out. I'll know." Lyra said fixing her Runners' pack.

The three started running the maze to sector 7. Once they made it to sector 7, they noticed something different.

"That is strange. 7 is not suppose to be open for another week." Minho noted.

"Maybe that is where the Griever came from?" Lyra suggested.

The three wandered through the metal flaps called the blades. They found a red tank top on the ground. Lyra let out a small whimper as she picked it up.

"It's Ben's isn't it?" Thomas asked looking to Lyra.

Lyra just nodded with tear swelling in her eyes.

"Yeah." Minho replied, "A Griever must have pulled him down here."

The three stood up from examining the tank top.

The the silver cylindrical object started clicking. Thomas took the the object out of Minho pack. Thomas started turned the silver cylindrical object to different parts of the area. As the silver cylindrical object faced different area the clicking speed changed. Thomas turned back to where the silver cylindrical object as clicking the fastest.

"I think it is showing us the way." Thomas stated.

Thomas started to follow the clicking noise, while Minho and Lyra followed Thomas. They entered a long passageway, with a drop off on either side. This felt familiar to Lyra, She had been there before. She looked down, there were scratches in the stone that she remembered making to find her way back.

"I know this place." Lyra gasped.

Minho turned and gave a look to Lyra.

"What?" Thomas asked clearly confused by non-verbal conversation that occurred between Lyra and Minho.

"Lyra had to have entered the maze through somewhere." Minho started.

"If I can find where I entered, we can find our way out." Lyra finished.

As they walked toward a stone wall, the lights on the silver cylindrical object turned green. The stone wall rose up, followed by three more walls lifting up. They exposed a large circle hole in the wall.

"Are you sure about this?" Minho asked

"No." Thomas replied.

They started to walked towards the hole. As they reached it, a red light blinked, then scanned them quickly, then shut off just as quickly. A loud metallic clanging sound echoed through the area. Gears sounded as though they were moving.

"We have to get out of here." Thomas stated.

"Give me the key." Minho pleaded.

Thomas threw Minho the silver cylindrical object. Minho put it into his Runner's sack.

The three ran back the way they came. This time part of the maze were falling in on itself, like it was closing up part of the maze. When they reached the bladed, the flaps were closing, making escape practically impossible. Other parts of the maze crashed down around them. Lyra was reminded of the puzzle boxes her parents would give her to solve when she was with them at their labs. They all barely made it out of the section before their escape route was sealed up.

The other Gladers were waiting for them at the entrance of the maze when Lyra, Thomas, and Minho came running into the Glade.

"What the hell was going on out there?" Asked Newt concern in his voice.

"What did you do now, Thomas?" Complained Gally

"We found a new passageway, might be our way out!" Thomas answered.

"A passageway I recognize." Lyra stated looking at Newt.

"Hold up. A brand new passageway. How can you recognize that?" Frypan asked.

The Galders fell silent, clearly they had been wondering the same question.

"I didn't come up with the supplies." Lyra started.

She glanced over at Newt.

"I found the Glade after I was walking the maze for almost 5 months." Lyra continued.

Whispers and gasps could be heard from the others.

"Why did you come through the maze?" asked Winston.

"I don't know" Lyra replied glancing again at Newt.

She didn't want to tell the whole Glade the truth about. She didn't want to say that her parents created the maze trials the test those who were immune to a certain virus. She didn't want to say that she could survive a Griever attack because she survived a virus at 5 years old. She didn't want to say that her aunt put them all in there in the first place. Not yet anyway. She didn't have to tell Newt any of that though. She already had, when she showed him her ability all those years ago.

"Anyway what we found could be a way out." Thomas said pulling Lyra from her thoughts.

"It's true we opened a door something I have never seen before" Minho added, "I think it is where the Grievers go during the day."

"The truth is Thomas doesn't know what he has done, as usual." Gally pointed out.

Thomas turned around as was mere inches from Gally. The Gladers stopped and formed a crowd around Gally and Thomas.

"Well, at least I did something." Thomas pointed out, "What have you done? Aside from hid behind these walls all the time."

"Let me tell you something Greenie. You have been here 3 day. I have been here 3 years…" Gally retorted getting into Thomas' face.

"You have been here 3 years and you are still here." Thomas shot back

Teresa interrupted the argument, "It's Alby, he's awake."

Newt, Minho, Frypan, Lyra, Thomas, Teresa and Gally made their way to the medical hut.


	14. Disaster Strikes in Griever Form

Disaster Strikes in Griever Form

Alby was sitting up when the group entered the medical hut. Newt sat down next to Alby.

"Alby you alright?" Newt asked.

Alby just stared straight ahead, tears forming in his eyes. Lyra knew that look. Alby was remembering life before the maze trials. She endured many encounters with her memories squatted in front of Alby.

"Hey Alby, we might have just found a way out." Thomas stated, "We could be getting out of here."

"We can't" Alby spoke softly, "We can't leave. They would let us."

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked.

"I remember." Alby stated louder.

The rest of the group shot each other glances. Newt looked to Lyra. Alby was not remembering rainbows and unicorns. WCKD was not that nice of a memory.

"What do you remember?" asked Thomas.

Lyra wished he hadn't asked, Thomas was probably not going to like the answer.

"You." Alby turned to Thomas and looked him in the eyes.

Lyra was going to have to tell everyone what was going on.

"You were always their favorite, next to Lyra of course." Alby continued.

"Why of course?" Newt asked

"Lyra's parents were involved." Alby answered.

Lyra could feel Frypan and Gally staring at her, but Lyra just kept her gaze at the back of Alby's head. There was a commotion outside.

"Why did you do this? Why did you come here?" Alby's voice rose as a tear rolled down his cheek.

All but Alby turned to the commotion. Newt, Minho, Frypan, Lyra, Thomas, Teresa and Gally exited the medical hut. The Gladers were running around, clearly panicked about something.

"Hey Winston, what is going on?" Thomas asked Winston.

"The door, they aren't closing" Winston replied running to help some Gladers.

The Gladers ran to the entrance of the maze. The sun had gone down and the stone doors were still opened. They crowded around the entrance.

"Give me two seconds." Lyra yelled as she sprinted forward into the maze.

She turned the corner and moved the ivy out of the way revealing her gloves and bow and arrows. She could hear the whining and creaking of metal that hasn't been used in years. The other doors must be opening. She rummaged through the ivy again, she felt what she was looking for. She pulled out a dagger and started running back the way she came. She could hear the Grievers behind her.

"Everybody hide." Thomas yelled as Lyra reentered the Glade.

Lyra ran trying to figure out how she would destroy all these Grievers. She decided to stand on the box. She clanged her bow against the metal.

"Hey over here." She yelled.

She had to get the timing right. A group of Grievers came running towards her. As they got a few inches from her she ducked down, lying on the ground next to the box She took out her knife. She started cutting at the exposed wires of the Griever. It had been a while since she had to do this. She crossed some of the wires and made a dash away. She heard the Griever short circuit and explode, showering the other Grievers in bits of scrap metal, killing many of them. The explosion showered her in Griever guts.

She ran towards Council Hall, catching up to Thomas, Clint, Teresa, Jeff and a few other Gladers. Grievers were chasing them. Alby tripped causing the Griever to catch up. Lyra pulled Alby and the rest of the group behind her. She drew back her bow and took a deep breath. She let go, sending the arrow soaring through the air and landing in the Griever's head just as a long wooden stake landed in the side of its head. Lyra turned, Newt, Frypan, and Minho came running toward them. Lyra held onto Newt's hand as they ran towards the hall. They all piled inside and closed the door right was a Griever was trying to chase them in. They all backed further into the hall as the Griever climbed onto the roof. Lyra looked down at herself, her glowing veins were visible. Other Gladers looked at her with some concern, but their focus was pulled when a Griever tail pulled the center support beam, causing the roof to collapse. Newt held onto Lyra as they were knocked down. The Gladers quickly got to their feet. Lyra helped pull some out from the fallen roof. A Griever tail grabbed a Glader and pulled him out of the hut. Thomas, Newt and Minho tried to hold onto the Glader, but they were too late. Lyra felt gutted, her friends were being killed by her own creations. A Griever tail broke a hole in the wall and went toward Chuck.

"Chuck" Thomas cried making his way toward Chuck.

Chuck tried to run from the tail, but it grabbed him. Chuck grabbed Thomas, Teresa, Minho, and Frypan. They all tried to pull Chuck back into the hut. Lyra pulled bow ready to strike but she couldn't get a good angle on the Griever. Alby came running up and started hitting the tail with a blunt machete. The tail let go of Chuck, but Alby kept hitting it, until in retracted from the hut.

"Thanks Alby" Chuck said breathless.

All of a sudden the tail came back in and grabbed Alby. Lyra and Thomas grabbed Alby's arm to prevent him from getting dragged away.

"Thomas, get them out." Alby order, "Lyra, keep them safe."

With that Alby was lifted out of the hut. The Gladers raced out of the hut, but there were no Grievers and no Alby. Just fires, a demolished Glade, and stillness. Tears started to stream down Lyra's face. Newt hugged her tightly. Shadows started to approach them. As the smokiness clear, Gally was storming towards them. Gally raised his fist and struck Thomas.

"This is all you Thomas, look around." Gally yelled

The other Gladers held Gally away from Thomas.

"Get back Gally, this is not Thomas' fault." Minho yelled

"You heard what Alby said. He is one of them." Gally yelled

"One of who?" A Glader asked

"He is one of them and he was sent to destroy everything." Gally yelled again.

Lyra started to feel a little light headed

_Maybe it is just from the stress of the night_ she calmed herself.

She knew she was still glowing. Lyra turned to Thomas just in time to see him plunge the syringe from the Griever into his leg and collapse.

"Chuck grabbed the vile." Teresa instructed turning her head to Chuck.

Lyra's vision began to blur. She put her hand to her side. She removed her hand, her marbled blood mixed with the black liquid stained her palm.

"Newt" Lyra cried as she fell to the ground.

She could feel Newt's hands holding her head up.

"What happened" Gally asked rushing over.

"I got stung" Lyra replied.

"Get her to the medical cot...Now!" yelled Newt.

Lyra could feel the Gladers lifting her as her vision turned black.


	15. Lyra's Deeply Held Secret

Lyra's Deeply Held Secret

Lyra blinked as the bright light was flashed in her eyes.

"Her reflects are good, Mrs. Paige and Mr Paige. I don't think there is anything to worry about." A male doctor said.

Lyra looked to her brown haired, brown eyed mother and her blonde haired blue eyed father. They smiled at her, she smiled back. Lyra remembered this moment, she was 5 and had gotten a virus that was was killing many others.

After that moment she didn't see much of her mother or father after that. She did spend a lot of time doing puzzles, building and crafting, or trivia with her aunt Ava. Ava was she father's sister, from what she could understand.

When she was 10, the World Catastrophe Killzone Department was formed. Her aunt Ava was named director, her parents were financial backers and well as lead scientists. Other children were brought to the WCKD facility. Her parents made her run across a large spacious gymnasium. They wouldn't let her stop until her veins glowed. They would write somethings down in their notebooks.

At 12 her aunt Ava gave her an access card to the back offices, where her parents and other scientists worked at the facility. Her aunt wanted her to create a mechanical organism hybrid that would help people get the vaccines for the virus, which was named the Flare.

"We are really close to a cure, Lyra." Ava would tell her whenever Lyra asked about WCKD.

Lyra had made some friends in the facility, her closest friend was named Newt. They would often play tag or try and out quiz each other.

"You are a key to all of this" Her mother would often say.

"You and your gifts are special." Her father would often say.

When Lyra were 14 she was moved to another facility with many of her friends. However, she did have to say goodbye to a few other. She also had to comfort Newt, who was loosing some friends too during this move.

At 15 Lyra decided to figure out what her parents were planning with all their data. She snuck into their office and found blueprints of a maze. She looked over list of chemicals needed to make the Flare virus, she had also found a special list of ingredients to make the blue sweet liquid her parents were making her drink since she was 5. Lyra heard three voices out in the hall, two of which were her parents and another voice. Lyra couldn't really make out what they were saying, but then two gunshots rang out. Lyra waited a moment scared to move. When she finally calmed down and venture out into the hall she saw her parents dead. Her aunt Ava pulled her into an exam room while other WCKD workers lifted her parents' bodies away. Through the slits in the curtains Lyra could see Alby in another bed with some doctors. Ava injected something into Lyra and then had Lyra change into a white flowy blouse, black tank top, black leggings, shorts, and slip on shoes. Ava then led Lyra down a corridor and stopped at door in the wall. The door opened and Lyra was told to walk through it.

"Remember Lyra, WCKD is good." Ava said as Lyra entered.

Lyra turned to face her aunt.

"You are the cure, Lyra. You can save humanity. You are the reason this is happening." Ava said smiling.

The door closed. Lyra turned around. She walked on a long passageway, with a drop off on either side. She wondered around the structure. She would sleep under the ivy for warmth to start with, but then she slept there to hide from the Grievers, after she had been stung a few times. It took a little bit of time to realize she was in a maze. She came across her hideaway in the wall of the maze filled with bottles of the blue liquid, fingerless gloves, a knife, and bow and arrows shortly after venturing into the narrower part of the maze. She soon realized that she could explode the Grievers. She had made her 153th tick into her wall, that had a big red 7 on it, when she thought she had found her way out. She was shocked to find that she didn't escape, but in fact she was at the center of the maze. The center was habitable with 5 boys already there. Alby, George, Newt, Minho and Gally. She explained to them where she had come from, leaving parts out since it was clear to her that none of them recognized her or really understood what they were talking about.

Minho, George and her would run through the maze trying to see where she came from. They did that for a while when George was attacked by a Griever and had to be banished to the maze. As more and more boys came up from the box Alby pulled her aside and told her the Glade rules that only applied to her. It wasn't long after that did Newt and her fall in love. It was actually on the day that Newt was stung in the maze did they reveal their feelings for each other.

But deep down Lyra always knew this place was her place. She was the daughter of the maze. She was a way to find a cure. She was subject 0.

The sunlight was shining in when Lyra opened her eyes, bolted upright and leaned over the cot in the medical hut. She began to throw up the black runny tar like substance all over the ground. She looked around, Gally was standing at the end of the cot, Newt was sitting next to her. Other Gladers were gathered around her cot. As she threw up they were whispering and talking to each other.

Newt handed her some water, "Here, drink this for a change."

Lyra gulped the water down. Jeff and Clint came over and examined her.

"She looks normal" Clint said looking to Gally.

"I want to truth, all of it." Gally demanded.

"Excuse me… Who gives you the right." Lyra shot back.

"Newt did. I'm in charge now." Gally declared.

Lyra looked to Newt.

"He was going to kill you. I couldn't let that happen. You mean everything to me." Newt answered kissing Lyra on the forehead.

"Alright, I will tell you Gally. But only Gally." Lyra said looking to Gally.

The rest of the Gladers left the hut as Gally sat on her cot. Lyra began to talk about her abilities, her experiences and her story.

As she came to a close Gally had a question, "You broke Alby's rules from Newt. Why?"

"Because I love him." Lyra responded

"I see. Thank you. You have given me a lot to think about." Gally got up, leaving Lyra alone in the hut.

A few moments later Newt returned to her with her bow and arrows and told her about a plan of escape Thomas created.


	16. Escaping the Maze

Escaping the Maze

Lyra stood next to Newt, with her bow and quiver on her back, as some Gladers carried Thomas and Teresa over to wooden poles stuck into the ground. Thomas was unconscious, the Gladers carrying him, threw him to the ground.

"This is such a waste." Gally sighed

"Gally, it doesn't feel right man." Winston pointed out.

"What if Thomas is right?" Jeff piped up, "Maybe he can lead us home."

"We are home. Okay?" Gally stated walking toward Jeff and Winston. " I don't want to cross anymore names off that wall."

Lyra held Newt's hand.

"You really think banishing us is going to solve anything?" Teresa asked

"No." Gally said looking down, "But this isn't a banishing. It's an offering."

The Gladers holding Teresa started to tie her wrists to one of the poles.

"What...Wait!" Teresa pleaded, "Gally what are you doing?"

"Do you think I am going to let Thomas back into the maze after what he has done. Look around you. Look at our Glade. This is the only way." Gally explained.

Lyra, Newt, Minho, and Frypan exchanged glances.

"And when the Grievers get what they came here for, everything goes back to the way it was." Gally stated.

"Are you listening to this? Why are you all just standing there? He's crazy." Theresa pleaded.

"You shut up" Gally order Teresa.

Teresa didn't listen, "If you stay here, the Grievers are going to come back and they are gonna keep coming back until you are all dead."

"Shut up. Tie him up!" order Gally.

Some Gladers started to lift Thomas up. Thomas sprang to life knocking the Gladers down and grabbing a pointed stake. Newt swung his machete around, Minho held a knife to Gally to prevent Gally from interfering, Teresa kicked the Gladers who tied her up down, Frypan cut Teresa free, Chuck came running up with an arm full of supplies, Lyra stood between Gally and Thomas her bow pulled back ready to strike.

"You are full of surprises aren't you?" Gally sighed

"You don't have to come with us but we are leaving." Lyra said

"Anyone else who wants to come, now is your last chance." Thomas stated.

"Don't listen to him, he's just trying to scare you." Gally said to the rest of the Gladers.

"No, I'm not trying to scare you. You're already scared. I'm scared. But i'd rather risk my life out there, than spending the rest of it in here." Thomas spoke with such conviction, Lyra knew at that moment she would follow Thomas, or at least keep his opinion in mind.

"We don't belong here. This place isn't our home." Lyra pleaded with the Gladers, "We were put here. We were trapped here. At least out there we have a choice. We can make it out of here. I know that."

Winston, Jeff, and a few other Gladers joined Lyra, Thomas, Newt, Minho, Teresa, Chuck, and Frypan at the entrance of the maze.

"Gally, it's over." Thomas stated.

Lyra lowered her bow.

"Just come with us." Lyra pleaded.

"Good luck, against the Grievers" Gally replied.

Lyra ran to Gally and hugged him, "Goodbye my friend."

She ran back to the entrance of the maze, as Thomas's group ran into the maze.

It didn't take long for them to reach the long passageway, with a drop off on either side. They hid behind the wall by the entrance to the passageway.

Lyra looked around the corner. A Griever was standing where they needed to be. Lyra looked back to the group.

"Is it a Griever?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah" Lyra replied.

"You take this, Chuck" Minho said handing Chuck the silver cylindrical object, "And stay behind us."

"It's okay, Chuck, just stick with me." Teresa said putting her hair up.

"Once we are through, it will activate and the door with open." Thomas stated, "We stay close, we stick together, we get through this. We get out now or we die trying."

They all ran at the Griever, which started charging toward them. Lyra landed a few arrows in it. The group started to push the Griever over the edge. In the fighting, a few Gladers were thrown off the drop off. The silver cylindrical object went flying, Chuck and Teresa went after it. The group managed to get the Griever off the edge. When Lyra turned to see what Chuck was yelling about she saw tons a Grievers climb up onto the passageway. Chuck and Teresa ran past them as the rest of the group held off the Grievers. It wasn't long until Chuck and Teresa were in the circular hole and the group was back up towards them.

"Thomas, there is a code. 8 numbers." Teresa yelled.

Lyra heard Minho yell out some numbers. It was then that a realization hit Lyra like a ton of bricks. The numbers she mumbled to try a calm down was a code she had seen her aunt punch in to open the door that Lyra stepped through to enter the maze, her eidetic memory and the stress of the maze caused her to remember the code but not how she knew it.

"Two" She heard Minho yell.

She was pulled from her thoughts, when a Griever landed on Minho. Jeff stabbed the Griever in the head, causing it to move off of Minho. However, the Grievers swarmed Jeff, biting and stinging him.

"What is the sequence?" Chuck screamed

"Six...Four...Eight...Three." Lyra stated finishing the sequence.

Teresa pressed the last number. The walls that were up started to drop down squishing the Grievers. The circular door close in front of them. Sending darkness all around them. Lyra found Newt's hand and intertwined their fingers. Soon light flooded as the door behind them opened.


	17. Discovering WCKD

Discovering WCKD

The group entered into a large hallway. The light above them slowly came on illuminating the area. They looked to their left and right. Lyra lead the way to a door. EXIT stares back at them in green letters above the door.

"Seriously?" Frypan asked looking to the rest of the group.

Lyra slowly reached into her runner's backpack and pulled out an access card. She slid it into the card slot next to the door. The light turned green, Lyra pushed down on the handle and slowly opened the door. The door opened to a hallway lined with fallen ceiling lights, smoke, blinking lights and bodies with lab coats on. The group walked down the hallway carefully. Newt made sure Lyra stayed close to him. They looked to the right hand side of the wall, there was a window into an exam room, with two bodies covered. Lyra started to tear up as she looked at them. There was no doubt in her mind that those were the bodies of Alby and Ben. Newt gently grabbed her shoulder and pushed her with the rest of the group.

"You don't need to see that." Newt whispered in her ear.

She knew he was right. As they got closer to a large room, Lyra noticed more bodies on the ground. Not just for lab people anymore, but also of pain clothed combatants. Minho had pushed a gun away from one of the dead combatants.

"What happened here?" Winston asked.

No one, not even Lyra, could answer that question. They entered a large room with computer glass and chairs.

_This must be the control room_, Lyra thought as she walked around the room.

Newt and Frypan went to some of the computer screens and examined them.

"So they were watching us. This whole time." Newt said looking at a feed of the Glade.

Lyra traced her fingers along the tabletops looking at the screens, until she felt something bump her fingers. She looked down, on the tabletop was a brown leather bound notebook. Lyra picked it up and examined it. ARTHUR PAIGE was written in gold letters on the bottom on the cover. Lyra put it in her pack and joined the other by a large screen. Her aunt's face was on the screen.

"Hello. My name is doctor Ava Paige. I am director of operations of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department." The recording of Lyra's aunt spoke.

Lyra felt a ping of betrayal as she watched. Newt slipped his hand into hers and intertwined their fingers.

"If you're watching this, that means you have successfully completed the maze trials." The recording continued, "I wish I could be there in person to congratulate you, especially you my wonderful talented niece Lyra. But circumstances seems to have prevented it. I am sure by now, you must all be very confused, angry, frightened. I can only assure you that everything that's happened to you, everything we've done to you, it was all done for a reason."

While Ava was talking, behind her scientist were moving around with paper. They were moving like they were in a hurry. The recording changed to new feeds, pictures, other lab work about the Flare.

"You won't remember, but the Sun has scorched our world." Ava's voice continued over the images, "Billions of lives lost to fire, famine, suffering on a global scale. The fallout was unimaginable. What came after was worse. We called it the Flare. A deadly virus that attacks the brain. It is violent, unpredictable, incurable."

The recording went back to Ava sitting in a chair while a commotion occured the the lab behind her, " Or so we thought. Until Lyra survived the Flare at 5 years old. Her parents and I realized that a new generation emerged that could survive the virus. Suddenly, there was a reason to hope for a cure. But finding it would not be easy. The young would have to be tested, even sacrificed, inside harsh environments, where their brain activity could be studied. All in an effort to understand what made them different, what made Lyra's veins glow a glittery blue, what makes you different. You may not realize it, but you're very important. Unfortunately, your trials have only just begun. As you'll no doubt soon discover, not everyone agrees with our methods."

Combatants stormed the lab and started shooting at the scientist behind Ava as she continued to speak, "Progress is slow, people are scared. It may be too late for us, for me, but not for you. The outside world awaits. Remember WCKD is good."

With that Ava shot herself in the head. Lyra turned away into Newt's chest. She just lost her whole family. Thomas walked over to body on the floor, that looked like it could be Ava's. Heavy metal doors opened to their right. Sunlight appeared at the end of the hallway. The group turned to walk out.

"Is it over?" Chuck asked looking to Thomas.

"She said we were important." Newt said looking to Lyra, "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't know." Thomas replied.

"Let's get out of here." Lyra stated taking a step toward the sunlight.

"No." Gally yelled from behind them.

The group turned around. Gally looked roughed up, with scratches on his face and hands. He was holding a gun and the silver cylindrical object.

"Gally." Thomas said a hint of relief in his voice,

"Don't" Teresa said as she stopped Thomas going to Gally, "He's been stung."

Gally dropped the silver cylindrical object on the ground.

"We can't leave." Gally stated his hand still holding the gun shaking.

"We did. Gally, we're out." Thomas replied slowly, "We're free."

Lyra was staring at the gun.

"Free?" Gally said, "You think we're free out there? No. There is not escape from this place."

Gally raised his gun and pointed it at Thomas.

"Gally listen to me. Don't do this." Lyra pleaded tears swelling up in her eyes.

"Gally, you're not thinking straight." Thomas said slowly, his hands raised, "You're not. Now we can help you. Just put down the gun."

Lyra felt Minho moving slowly behind her.

"I belong to the maze." Gally said still pointing the gun.

"Just put down the gun." Lyra pleaded again.

"We all do" Gally stated.

Chuck lunged in front of Thomas, Newt pulled Lyra closer to him, as Minho threw a stake at Gally piercing Gally in the chest. There was a long bang, the same bang that Lyra heard the day her parents were killed. Gally wheezed and gasped for air as he fell to the ground, he laid there not moving.

Chuck started to make a funny breathing sound.

"Thomas" Chuck said weakly.

Chuck's shirt was stained red. Chuck started to fall, but was caught by Thomas. Thomas slowly helped Chuck to the ground. Chuck lay there, bleeding out. Lyra started crying, _Two more friends killed because of WCKD_.

"Look at me, look at me!" Thomas pleaded.

Lyra knew what Thomas was feeling all too well.

"Chuck, look at me, all right? I got you buddy. Just hang on." Thomas said through tears.

Chuck tried to give Thomas something, but Thomas won't accept it.

"No, Chuck. You are going to give it to them yourself." Thomas said hopefully, "Remember I told you that."

Chuck forced Thomas to accept the object.

"Thank you... Thank you." Chuck said slowly.

He repeated those words until he gasped his last breath. Chuck had died in Thomas's arms.

Thomas tried shaking Chuck awake, but Lyra knew that wouldn't work. Newt held on to Lyra as she wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. Thomas started sobbing as he realized Chuck wasn't waking up. The next thing that Lyra knew she was being dragged by people, dressed in black, into a helicopter. The group piled in and the pilot look off.

"You guys all right. Don't worry you are safe now." One of the men in black said.

The group was in awe as the helicopter flew around the maze, showing its vastness and complexity.

Lyra just stared out the window. _How could her aunt do that to her, without an explanation? Why would her aunt kill herself? What happened to her parents? Was it really over?_

Lyra's head swarmed with questions. She rested her head on Newt's shoulder as Newt wrapped his arm around her.

Lyra had a funny feeling that she would see you aunt again. Lyra felt that whatever they were apart of wasn't over or anywhere close to being finished. She would still have to fight WCKD.


	18. The Daughter of the Maze: Scorch Trials

THE DAUGHTER OF THE MAZE

SCORCH TRIALS


	19. The Warehouse, A Waystation

The Warehouse, A Waystation

_Lyra remembered meeting Thomas, Newt, Minho, Frypan, Winston, and Teresa before the maze. They were about 12, Ava had suggested to Lyra's parents that Lyra interacted with the other subjects._

"_Hi, I am Newt." A blonde brown eyed 12-year-old boys stuck out his hand._

"_I am Lyra." Lyra shook Newt's hand. _

_The group decided to play tag. Newt had tagged Lyra and she was running to catch him when everyone stopped and stared at her. Lyra looked down at her hands, her veins were glowing a shimmery blue. Ava had pulled her away from the group. _

"_You are special Lyra. You are going to save humanity. You are a cure. Don't you ever forget that." Ava told her. _

"_I won't." Lyra replied._

_Back when she was innocent, when she thought she was doing good in the world, when her parents were still alive. Was it really over? Were they really free? _

Lyra awoke, her head had been resting on Newt's shoulder during the helicopter ride from the maze. It was nighttime, people were yelling, and everyone was rushing out of the helicopter. Minho was yelling at Thomas, trying to wake Thomas up. There was a commotion as they exited the helicopter. Thomas had to run back to the helicopter to get something. Lyra could hear screeching from over the sand ridge.

"Cranks." A man yelled firing at dark shadows coming over the ridge.

A few men with guns were leading the group towards a complex with tons of lights shining in the darkness. Two large metal doors slammed together and locked right behind Thomas. They were inside a large warehouse structure. Lyra slipped her hand into Newts and squeezed. Newt squeezed back. He knew she was scared. There were a lot of people moving around. They had been shoved into a smaller room.

"Hey let us out!" Thomas yelled banging on the door.

The light came on and everyone turned around. They stared at the table in front of them. It was a long table filled tons of food and many pitchers of water. The group rushed the table.

"Dibs on the rice." Frypan stated with joy as the group ran to the table.

Everyone started piling their metal plates full of food. Lyra grabbed a roll, some yellowish spread, rice, and chicken. Newt bit into a chicken leg. Minho gulped a pitcher of water.

"This is way better than Frypan's slop." Winston joked as the group sat around the table.

Teresa threw food at him. Winston threw some food back, missing Teresa but hitting Lyra instead. Lyra stood there in shock with the yellowish sauce dripping from her hair. Newt threw some rice at Winston which hit Minho instead. The food fight continued until the group laughed themselves silly. The plates where empty, bones were all that was left of the meat by the time the group was finally full.

"I don't know who these guys are, but they can cook." Frypan said.

Most of the group was asleep. Only Thomas, Frypan, Newt, Lyra, Teresa, and Minho were awake. Frypan was leaning against a concrete beam, behind Thomas. Lyra was sitting across from Thomas. Newt was sitting on a bag of rice directly behind Lyra, Lyra was sitting between Newt's legs and was resting her head on his left knee. Teresa was sitting beside Lyra.

"Who are they really though? We don't know anything about them." Teresa asked

"I didn't recognize anyone." Lyra noted.

"We know they are no friend of WCKD." Newt added.

"That's good enough for me." Minho said sitting up on the table, "You guys think too much. We are finally free. Enjoy it"

"I mean are we finally free?" Lyra asked no one in particular.

The door they had been shoved through finally opened. A man with salt and pepper hair stood in front of them, armed men were on either side of him.

"You kids doing alright?" The man asked, "Sorry about all the fuss. We had ourselves a bit of a swarm."

"Who are you?" Thomas asked.

"I'm the reason you're all still alive." The man answered," It's my intention to keep you that way."

Lyra got a funny feeling in her stomach like she had seen this man before. Lyra, however, could not place him anywhere. Lyra also didn't like how he answered the questions.

"Come with me. We will get you kids squared away." The man said walking away.

The group followed him.

"You can call me Mr. Janson. I run this place." the man said as they walked through the warehouse-like space, "For us, it is a sanctuary, safe from the horrors of the outside world. You all should think of it as a waystation. Kind of a home between homes."

"Does that mean you are taking us home?" Thomas asked.

Lyra looked to Newt. She didn't have a home to return to. Newt was all she had left. Newt looked back at her. He must have known what she was thinking because he slipped his hand into hers and squeezed it tightly.

"I've got you. Don't worry about anything." He whispered into her ear.

"A home of sorts" Janson explained, "Sadly, there wouldn't be much left of wherever you came from. But we do have a place for you. A refuge, outside of the Scorch, where WCKD will never find you again. How does that sound?"

No one answered him, but they were all glad to be rid of WCKD. Lyra wasn't so sure they are completely done with WCKD. Lyra knew how valuable she was to them. Her aunt wouldn't have left her without anything.

"Why are you helping us?" Minho asked

Lyra could have given him the answer. They were the cure to the Flare.

"Let's just say the world out there is in a rather precarious situation. We're all hanging on by a very thin thread. The fact you kids can survive the Flare virus makes you the best chance of humanity's continued survival. Unfortunately, it also makes you a target as no doubt by now you've noticed."

They came to another door, this one had key card access and a glass window in it.

"Beyond this door lies the beginning of your new lives." Janson said as the door opened upwards, "First things first, let's do something about that smell."

The boys were led to one room, while Teresa and Lyra were led to another room. The room was lined with showers stalls. Lyra picked one, she turned the water on, it was like hot rain. It reminded her of the Glade back in the maze. The memories of all the friends she lost flooded her mind until she heard Teresa.

"How long have you and Newt been a thing?" Teresa asked from across the room.

"A year and a half I think" Lyra answered putting some soap on her body.

"Do you really like him?" Teresa asked.

_What is this, girl talk?_ Lyra thought to herself.

"Yeah. I broke a few of Alby's rules for him." Lyra responded.

Just saying Alby's name hurt a lot. Lyra could feel the tear swelling behind her eyes. She put her face into the water to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Do you love him?" Teresa asked after a moment.

"Yes." Lyra replied as she turned off the water and got dressed.

She was in a white t-shirt, white skin-tight zip-up jacket, white skin-tight leggings, white slip on tennis shoes. The outfit reminded her of the WCKD outfit the subjects wore. Lyra checked every inch of the clothes for tags, but she couldn't find any.

"What are you doing?" Teresa asked.

"Just checking if these clothes had any labels." Lyra responded.

Teresa changed, then the two girls were led to a medical bay. Minho was running on a treadmill with a mask on his face and sensors all over his body. Newt was getting a shot. Thomas was getting his blood drawn. Teresa was led to an exam table and a female doctor closed the curtains. Another doctor approached Lyra with a clipboard in hand.

"Are you subject 0?" The doctor asked her.

Lyra was caught a little off guard, "Excuse me?"

"Are you subject 0?" The doctor asked again.

The funny feeling returned to Lyra. Only a very few WCKD personnel knew her subject number or that she was even a subject at all.

"No." Lyra replied.

"I need you to run the length of the room for me. Back and forth please." The doctor ordered.

Lyra looked to Newt. Newt had heard the conversation, the worry was clearly present on his face. Lyra shook her head and Newt's face softened. She had this, it was not difficult for her to fake normalcy, but she hadn't done it for almost 3 and a half years. Lyra took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and started jogging from one end of the room to the other. She focused on nothing, thought about nothing. That was the only way to prevent her veins from glowing when she was exerting herself too much.

"Fine, thank you." The doctor said after Lyra had been running for a while.

Lyra stopped. A man walked up to her. Newt looked like he was ready to protect her, she glanced at him, which made him sit back down.

"Lyra you need to come with me." The man said.


	20. Others Like Them

Others Like Them

The man led Lyra to a small room with a table and two chairs on either side

Lyra sat down at the table, she looked to her left at the mirror. The man closed the door. Lyra was waiting, she ran her hand through her curly hair. There was a buzz from the door as it opened. Janson entered the room.

"Thank you, Lyra for seeing me." Janson said sitting down across from her, "I am sorry for the inconvenience."

"What is this about?" Lyra asked looking at him.

"I was hoping we would get a moment to chat in private, away from the others." Janson said pulling out a file and opening it, "I won't take up too much of your time. I only have a few questions."

Lyra stared at him.

"Are you Lyra Paige?" Janson asked

Lyra looked at him.

"Doesn't it say in your file that I am?" Lyra said pointing to her file.

"It does indeed state if you are Lyra, but for all, we know you could be lying. It states in the file that Lyra Paige has glowing veins when exposed to high exertion or emotion. You have not demonstrated that trait to us." Janson shot back.

"Maybe she found a way to control it. Maybe you need updated information." Lyra stared at Janson.

"Okay, Lyra. What do you remember about WCKD?" Janson asked.

"Why do you want to know that?" Lyra snapped back.

"I am trying to figure out whose side your on." Janson stated.

"I remember that I was a subject for WCKD's experiment. My aunt and my parents put me through hell. They tortured and killed my friends. They twisted my creations to suit their needs. They had me wander through the maze ever night. I had to fight for my life. My aunt is a monster for not only letting that happen to me but for watching and documenting it." Lyra stated clearly like her words were going to cut like a knife, "So you ask me when it comes down to it, whose side I am on. I am on my friend's side. I will always be on their side."

"Interesting." Janson noted, "If you are Ava's niece why did they send your directly into the maze?"

"Maybe ask them next time before you kill them all" Lyra snapped back.

"I will keep that in mind." Janson said standing up.

He left the room. Lyra was waiting for a few minutes until a man opened the door. Lyra stood up and exited the room.

"Lyra." She heard Thomas yell behind her.

Lyra turned around. Thomas caught up to her.

"Janson said something about others." Thomas whispered to Lyra.

"Makes sense. WCKD would have more that one maze." Lyra whispered back.

Thomas and Lyra were led to a large cafeteria room filled with many people. As they entered Minho walked up to them.

"Hey, we weren't the only maze." Minho stated, he then looked to Lyra, "Newt has been worried about you."

Thomas glanced at Lyra. Minho led him to where the rest of the group was sitting. Newt moved over so Lyra could sit next to him. As she sat down, Newt put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"I heard you were worried." She whispered to him, "I was fine. He asked some question. That was all."

"They pulled us out of the maze and brought us here." An older teenage boy spoke about his experience in the maze.

"What about the rest of them?" Newt asked, "The other people left behind in the maze, what happened to them?"

"I don't know. I guess WCKD still has them." The teenager answered.

"How long have you guys been here?" Lyra asked.

"Not long just a day or two. That kid over there has been here the longest, almost a week." The teen pointed to another teen who was sitting by himself.

The other teen wore a long hoodie with stripes on the sleeves. Lyra knew him from before the groups were assigned to the mazes. Aris or Aaron was his name, Lyra couldn't exactly remember.

"His maze was nothing but girls." The original teen explained

"Really?" Minho asked interestedly.

"Yeah, some guys have all the luck." the teen snapped back.

Janson entered the room, "Good evening gentlemen, ladies. You all know how this works. If you hear your name called, please raise in an orderly fashion, and make your way to the front of the room. Your new lives are about to begin."

Janson then read out a list of names, those people rose up happiness on their faces. When he was done he explained that he wished he could take more. Thomas turned his head.

"What the hell." Thomas said getting up from the table and walked toward a wall with windows.

"Teresa" He yelled as he walked toward another entrance.

He was stopped by armed guards. The guards and Thomas talked for a minute. Thomas turned around and walked back to the group at the table.


	21. Something Suspect

Something Suspect

The group was led down a series of hallways to a door with a small window in it. A guard opened up the door. It was filled with bunk beds and a sink. The group piled into the room.

"I got the top bunk." Frypan said reaching to climb up.

Minho beat him to the top, "Too slow."

Winston laid down on a bed, "I could get used to this."

"Yeah, it's not bad." Newt said looking around.

The guard locked the door.

_That's weird _Lyra thought.

"What do you think those guys want with Teresa?" Thomas asked looking to Lyra and Newt.

"If there is the only thing I know about that girl it is that she can take care of herself." Newt replied climbing to the top bunk.

"Don't worry about it." Lyra said climbing up after Newt.

Thomas laid down on the bunk below them. Lyra cuddled next to the Newt. Newt wrapped his arm around her.

"You are safe tonight Lyra. I will protect you, always." Newt said

"I will always come running back to you." Lyra said as she laid her hand on Newt's chest.

Lyra turned over on her side and closed her eyes. Newt turned and laid his arm on her waist pulling her closer to him.

_Memories flashed in her mind. Ben and Alby getting stung, Ben's banishment, killing George, not saving Alby, Zart and Alby getting taken by the things she created, Jeff sacrificing himself, Gally getting stung, Chuck getting killed. _

"_You are the cure...WCKD is good...Daughter of the maze...Humanity's last hope...Find the cure…" the voices of her aunt, mother, and father blended together and repeated the same statements. _

_Then she was alone around by darkness, she could hear the shrieking of the Grievers and the metal clicking of the metal legs. Fear and terror overcame Lyra. She let out a scream._  
Lyra awoke scream and thrashing her arms around, Newt was holding her tight against him, calming Lyra down.

"It's okay, it was just a dream." Newt whispered.

Minho, Thomas, Winston, and Frypan stood up next to Newt's bunk. Tears streamed down Lyra's cheeks.

"They are dead, they are all dead. Because of me. If I wasn't the way I am, they would still be alive." Lyra sobbed.

"You don't know that." Newt whispered back.

Lyra climbed down and ran to the sink. The rest of the group went back to bed.

"Newt please don't wait up." Lyra said to Newt, who laid down on the bed.

Thomas walked up to her.

"You okay?" Thomas asked

"Yeah. I will be. It was just a nightmare." Lyra said splashing water on her face.

All of a sudden there was a rattling sound from under Thomas' bed.

"Psst" A voice spoke under the bed.

Lyra and Thomas looked under the bed. The boy with the striped sleeved hoodie appeared in the air duct.

"Come on. Follow me." The teen whispered.

Lyra and Thomas followed the teenager through the air duct until they reached a dead end with a grate looking down.

"Watch!" The teen said looking through the grate.

The three looked though the grate. It didn't take long before the doctor, who was looking after Teresa, came walking through with body bags being wheeled on a stretcher, a body scanner screen was over the stretcher. The bodies were wheeled into a locked room.

"What the hell was that?" Thomas asked after everyone had walked into the room.

"They bring in new ones every night like clockwork" The teen stated.

"What do they do to them?" Lyra asked cautiously, she wasn't sure she wanted the answer to it.

"I don't know." The teen answered, "This is as far as I've ever gotten. The vents don't even go into that section. But once they go through that door, they don't come back out."

Lyra got a very funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. The doors looked familiar, like the door in the back offices and labs of the WCKD complex that Lyra grew up in.

"I don't think anybody ever really leaves this place." The teen said again.

Again this statement reminded her of WCKD, they often used tactics like that to ensure that people would not panic.

"We have to go before somebody notices we're gone." The teen turned and crawled away.

"Wait what is your name." Thomas called after the teen.

"Aris" The teen responded as he crawled away.

Lyra looked to Thomas and they soon followed suit.

Lyra climbed back up to Newt and snuggled next to him.

The day went by pretty fast. More experiments and testing, lunch, free time in the room. During the day Lyra and Thomas told Frypan, Winston, Minho, and Newt about they had seen last night.

"I have a way to get in" Lyra whispered to Thomas.

Finally, it was dinner and soon Janson was calling out names again.

"I wanna know what's through that door." Thomas whispered to Lyra.

"We've been over this," Newt interrupted, "You said they were covered up, so we don't know what you saw. It could've been anything under there."

"I know exactly what I saw, they were bodies." Lyra stated looking to Newt.

"Aris said they bring in a new batch every night." Thomas added.

"Who the hell is Aris?" Minho asked

Thomas pointed to Aris, who was sitting alone with his striped sleeved hoodie on.

"Well, I'm sold." Minho said turning back.

"Until we know anything for certain, we should just keep our head down and try not to draw any attention to ourselves." Newt said looking around at the guards.

Thomas quickly got up and walked toward the guards.

"What is he doing?" Newt said watching.

"I think he is drawing attention to himself." Frypan stated.

Thomas tried to get through the door, but the guards were not letting him. The guards started pushing Thomas, that was when the group ran over and held Thomas back.

"What's happening here?" Janson yelled breaking up the fighting.

"Lyra! Thomas! I thought we could trust each other" Janson said staring at Lyra and Thomas, "You know we're all on the same team here."

"Are we?" Lyra asked snarkily, staring back at Janson.

Lyra could feel Newt staring at her in disbelief.

"Get them to their bunks." Janson ordered the guards.

Soon the group was forced into their room.

"What the hell was that about?" Minho asked Thomas

As soon as Lyra heard the door lock, she went for her quiver and pulled out her keycard.

"You didn't really think they were going to let you through?" Newt asked

"Nah, of course, I didn't." Thomas said pulling out a keycard, "I'm going to find out what on the other side of that door."

"Newt, they are hiding something." Lyra said looking at Newt.

"These people are not who they say they are." Thomas added.

"No, Thomas, you don't know that. The only thing that we do know is that they helped rescue us from WCKD. They gave us clothes, food, and a proper bed. Some of us haven't had that in a long time. Some of us a lot longer than others." Newt explained.

Just then the grate was kicked in by Aris. Lyra hugged Newt.

"I will always come running back to you." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.

Lyra got down and started crawling through the air vents. Thomas was behind her. Thomas was talking to the group. All that Lyra could hear was mumbling. Aris, Lyra, and Thomas reached the grate. Thomas opened the grate and lowered himself down. He caught Lyra as she lowered herself down.

"Careful with those hands dude. Newt could go ballistic, so watch it" Lyra joked as Thomas helped her down.

Aris was the last one down. Thomas threw the grate back up in its slot. They walked to the door. Thomas slid the card through the slot, the screen lit up green, and the door opened. From what Lyra could see it looked like a decontamination room. There was a window to their left. It had large containers full of a blue liquid. Inside, floating, in the containers was the organism part of the Grievers, before they are hooked up to the metallic side of the Grievers.

_This is WCKD. We haven't left them. We are not free._ Lyra thought as she stared at the containers. The door in front of them opened. They entered a large room, teens were fastened to a harness and hung a few inches off the ground. A machine was connected to them and draining them of a blue shimmery liquid.

"Teresa" Thomas finally spoke.

Lyra turned, there was a girl who looked like Teresa hanging from the harness. Thomas exposed the girl's face and it was not Teresa.

"That's Rachel. She was in the maze with me. She was taken the first day." Aris said walking up to them.

They heard the exterior door open. They had to hide. Aris ran to the other side of the room, while Thomas and Lyra ducked behind some barrels. Janson walked into the room. Ava appeared on a screen in front of him.

"Good evening, Doctor Paige." Janson spoke, "Lovely to see you again, though I was not expecting to see you so soon."

"Change of plans, Janson" Ava cut him off, "I'll be arriving a little sooner than expected. First thing tomorrow"

"You'll be pleased with the progress we made. As you can see, early results have been extremely promising." Janson said pointed to some lab results on her screen, "Whatever you have been doing to them in there, it's working."

"Not well enough." Ava said frustrated, "I just got board approval. I want all remaining subjects sedated and prepped for harvest by the time I arrive."  
"I am working as fast as I can." Janson complained

"Try something faster, until I can guarantee their security, her security, this is the best plan." Ava said,

"Ma'am security is my job." Janson argued.

"Have you found the Right Arm?" Ava asked.

"Not yet." Janson admitted, "But we tracked them as far as the mountains."

"So they are still out there. They have already hit two of our installations. And I cannot… I cannot afford another loss. Not now, when I am so close to a cure. Lyra holds a part of the key. " Ava yelled, "If you are not up to the task, I will someone who is."

"That won't be necessary. Might I suggest we start with the most recent arrivals." Janson turned to walk away.

"Janson, I don't want them to feel any pain. Especially her, she is the only family I got left." Ava said before the screen went black.


	22. Escaping WCKD

Escaping WCKD

Thomas, Lyra, and Aris quickly made their way through the air duct to the rest of the room. Thomas threw open the grate and climbed out, followed by Lyra and Aris.

"Thomas, Lyra" Minho shouted.

"We gotta go, We have to go right now!" Lyra said quickly.

Thomas and Lyra started running around blocking the door.

"What are you talking about. What do you mean 'We have to go?" Minho, Newt, Frypan, and Winston asked.

"Lyra, they're coming. We gotta go." Thomas said figuring out how to escape.

"She's still alive...I can't believe she is still alive...I saw her die...How can that be?" Lyra stood there frozen for a second as it hit her that her family was not completely dead.

"What happened in there?" Frypan asked Lyra.

"Lyra, calm down and talk to us." Newt held Lyra's shoulders and stared into her eyes.

"She is still alive." Lyra yelled, tears in her eyes.

"Who is she?" Frypan yelled back.

"Ava." Lyra said staring at Thomas.

"Ava?" Newt asked.

"My aunt Ava. WCKD! We are in a WCKD facility. It has always been WCKD. We were never free from them." Lyra cried hugging Newt.

"I will protect you." Newt tightened his grip around her, "Thomas what did you see?"

Thomas quickly explained what they had seen. The group then decided to escape through the air duct. They exited the ductwork in a corridor.

"Come on, come on." Thomas urged as the group climbed out of the duct.

Lyra turned to an exit, "Okay, let's go"

"You guys go ahead. There is something I gotta do" Aris said staying by the duct.

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked running back to Aris.

"Trust me it is important. You wanna get outta here, right? Just go" Aris said getting back into the ductwork

"I'll go with him." Winston said following Aris.

"Are you sure we can trust this kid?" Minho asked as Lyra, Thomas, Frypan, Newt, and Jack walked down the corridor.

"You don't want to know where we'd be without him." Thomas responded.

They turned a corner and ran right into the doctor that was treating Teresa.

"What are you kids doing out?" she asked.

Just then an alarm blared and orange lights came on. The doctor looked around then back at the group. The group looked at each other. Thomas grabbed the doctor's arm.

"Take us to Teresa. Now!" He order.

The doctor led them down a series of hallways. Lyra ran ahead of the group aiming her arrow in front of them. After they all turned a corner an armed man ran towards them.

"Freeze!" the man yelled at them.

The group with their hostage ran back the way they came. Minho and Lyra stopped and turned back to the armed man. Lyra reached down, clicked a button on her quiver, pulled out an arrow, aimed her bow. Minho ran towards the armed man, just as Lyra let go of the bowstring sending the arrow into the armed man's leg while Minho landed a firm knee to the man stomach. Lyra clicked a button her quiver again which caused the man to convulse like he was getting electrocuted. The man laid on the ground, unconscious. The group and hostage ran up to Minho and Lyra.

" Shit Minho." Newt said glancing over at Minho.

Newt then gave a look to Lyra. Thomas bent over and picked up the gun from the man. It wasn't long before they reached the medical room. Thomas pushed the doctor through the opened door. The medical techs were scrambling.

"Where is she? Where is she!" Thomas ordered.

A med tech looked to a curtain. Thomas handed Minho the gun. Thomas pulled the curtains back as Lyra pulled back her bow ready to shoot at the techs.

"Get down" Minho ordered.

The doctors obeyed.

"Give me your hands" Newt ordered.

The doctors obeyed. Newt tied bed sheets around their wrists.

"You are never going to get away with this." A doctor said.

"I'm Lyra Paige. I can do anything." Lyra said staring at the doctors.

The doctors' eyes widen with recognition. Frypan, Newt, and Minho looked to each other. Thomas helped Teresa out of the bed and unhooked her from the medical devices.

"Guys, they are coming where do we go?" Frypan yelled from the door.

"Frypan move." Newt yelled tipping over a table and pressing it against the entrance.

Janson and his group tried to open the door, but the table Newt tipped over jammed it.

"Get back! Get back!" Minho yelled pushing Newt, Frypan, and Lyra behind him as he pointed the gun, "Where do we go?"

"Everyone stand back!" Thomas yelled as he hit a glass observation window with a metal chair.

Newt helped the second time. The window finally broke. The group crawled through the window. Thomas opened the door and an armed man stood in front of them. Thomas pulled the trigger on the gun, stunning the man. The group ran around him, towards the keycard door, they entered the facility through. Thomas swiped the keycard, the screen blinked red. Thomas tried again, the same result.

"Thomas, Lyra!" Janson yelled from down the corridor.

Janson started to slowly walk towards the group. Thomas gave the keycard to Minho and raised the gun, Lyra raised her bow.

"Open this door, Janson!" Thomas ordered.

Thomas and Lyra walked closer to Janson and his group, their weapons still pointed.

"You really don't want me to." Janson replied in a calm voice.

"Open the damn door!" Lyra yelled.

"Listen to me! I'm trying to save your life." Janson shouted back, "The maze in one thing, but you kids wouldn't last one day in the scorch. If the elements don't kill you. The Cranks will."

"I have survived worse. WCKD made me walk through hell and I am still here. I am Lyra Paige, Subject 0, and I will survive anything the outside world throws at me. Because it would be less painful than what I have already endured." Lyra shouted back, she could feel her veins starting to glow blue.

"You both have to believe me. I only want what is best for you." Janson stated.

"Yeah, let me guess. WCKD is good?" Thomas asked.

"You are not getting through that door." Janson said lowering his hands.

Just then the door opened behind Thomas and Lyra. Newt, Teresa, Frypan, Jack, and Minho exited. Lyra turned and ran towards them. Thomas shot at Janson and his armed men, before turning and running towards the lowering door. Thomas slid to the group just before the door closed. Aris damaged the keycard slot trapping Janson and his men on the other side. They quickly grabbed the gear off of the unconscious men in the warehouse, before they opened the metal doors that led to the outside world.


	23. First Glimpse at The Scorch

First Glimpse at The Scorch

There was a sandstorm blowing ferociously around them as they exited the WCKD compound. They could hardly see where they were going. It was colder than Lyra thought it would be. They climbed a sand dune just as WCKD personnel were sent out to find them. They ducked down at the crest of the dune, watching the armed men look for them. They then ran the other way. They stumbled into a large building of sorts. Minho pulled out a flashlight, turned it on, and shown it around the place. To Lyra the place looked like a mall, though she hadn't been in one since she was really little.

"We gotta go!" Thomas said walking further into space.

"No. Thomas, stop!" Teresa said not moving, "Tell me what is going on."

"It's WCKD. They lied to us. We never escaped." Thomas said, "Me, Lyra, and Aris, we found bodies. Too many to count."

"What do you mean? Dead bodies?" Minho asked.

"No, but they weren't fully alive either." Lyra replied.

"They had then strung up. With tubes coming out of them. They were being drained." Thomas added.

"There is something inside of us that WCKD wants." Lyra stated, "Something in our blood."

"So we have to get as far away from them as possible." Thomas stated.

"Okay. So what's the plan?" Newt asked holding Lyra's hand tightly.

Lyra and Thomas looked at each other.

"You do have a plan, right?" Newt said with concern in his voice.

"I don't know" Thomas finally admitted.

"We followed you out here, Thomas...and now you're saying that you have no idea where we're going or what we're doing." Newt's voice rose with frustration.

"Wait. Janson said something about people hiding in the mountains. Some kind of resistance or army." Aris spoke up

"The Right Arm." Thomas nodded, "If they're really against WCKD, maybe they can help us.

"People. In the mountains. Mountain people. That's your plan?" Newt restated the plan a look of unease on his face.

"It is the only chance we have." Lyra stated looking at Newt.

"Hey, guys." Winston said a little ways from the group kneeling, "Check this out. Minho give me some light."

The group walked over to Winston. Minho showed the flashlight over the area in front of Winston. Shoe prints were visible in the sand.

"Someone's been down here." Winston aid pointing to the prints.

The group wandered around the area. Shops lined both sides with a spacious walkway in between the shops.

Minho peered into one of the closed shops.

"Open it up." Minho order.

The group did. The spaced looked lived in. Water canisters were scattered around. Frypan turned on a lamp. Everyone found a flashlight.

"It looks like people lived here." Lyra noted.

"Where are they now?" Newt asked.

The group just searched the room. Thomas found a jacket.

"Let's pack some of this stuff up." Thomas said putting on the jacket, "Anything you think you might need. We'll split up, see what else we can find. Meet back here."

"Wait, Thomas." Newt said throwing Thomas a flashlight.

Minho and Thomas left and walked away from the group. Aris, Frypan, Jack, and Teresa walked to the next shop. Lyra was about to follow when Newt pulled her arm towards him. She spun around and felt her lips press against his. She draped her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer to him. Frypan coughed and shined a light on them. Lyra and Newt separated.

"Naw. I don't care about that." Frypan said with a smile, "I was just trying to find you both. We should stick close together."

Lyra and Newt followed Frypan to the next store. Where they found backpacks and outdoor clothes. Lyra pulled down a white lightweight backpack and shoved her father's notebook and her keycard into it. She looked around the room for other items to put into it. She looked through the clothes. Lyra knew that the white she was wearing would be spotted a mile away as WCKD's property. Lyra found some clothes and started changing. She could hear Newt and Frypan on the other side of a plastic room divider.

"Um," Frypan spoke, "Why is subject 0 so important?"

Lyra looked towards them, "Subject 0 started to the whole thing, created hope."

She put on black leggings, blue short, a black print tank top, a green lightweight jacket, a brown vest, and light brown boots.

"What does that mean?" Frypan asked again.

"It matters because subject 0 is the niece of Ava, the director of WCKD. The person who is authorizing the horrible things that have been done to us and the others." Lyra explained walked towards them.

She noticed that Newt was giving Frypan a look. Frypan must have been trying to seek a peek at her. Lyra smiled at Newt.

"And you are subject 0, Ava's niece correct?" Frypan asked trying to wrap his head around Lyra's explanation.

"Correct. My parents help build WCKD, trying to find a cure, but they were killed right before I entered the maze. My aunt runs WCKD. I survived the flare when I was 5." Lyra explained.

They sat waiting for Teresa to be done changing. Newt slipped his hand into Lyra. Frypan looked at the two of them.

"I always thought there was something between the two of you." Frypan said smiling.

"We had to be careful, Alby didn't want anyone to get jealous that the only girl in the Glade liked a certain Glader." Lyra said.

"Anyone or Gally?" Frypan said giving Lyra a look.

Tears swelled in Lyra's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I know losing your friends is hard." Frypan apologized.

"It's not our fault. She doesn't like that she could have helped them but was forced not to." Newt answered as Lyra hid her face in his shoulder.

Teresa emerged in a change of clothes.

Lyra wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up, "Come on, let's keep looking."

The lights came on above them. Frypan, Newt, Jack, Teresa, and Lyra walked out of the store into the walkway. Lyra quickly ran into a sporting good store, grabbed all the arrows that were being sold and stuffed them into her quiver as she ran back to Newt.

"What is going on?" Winston asked.

"I don't know." Frypan answered.

There were gurgling noises and screams coming from where Minho and Thomas went.

"Hey!" They heard Thomas yell.

The group could see the dark shapes of Minho and Thomas running down the walkway.

"Run!" Minho yelled.

Lyra looked confused at Newt. When she turned back Thomas and Minho were being chased by other dark shapes. They turned and ran down the corridor and up some metal stairs. The group kept running. A Crank ran at them. Aria hit in with a metal bat. As they started up another set of metal stairs a crank jump and grabbed Jack pulling him off the stairs. Frypan tried to grab him, but a Crank jumped on Jack causing Jack to fall to the floor below. Frypan, Newt, Lyra, Aris, and Minho took one path and Thomas and Teresa took another. They met on the floor above them. A Crank came out of nowhere and pulled Newt to the ground.

"Newt!" Lyra yelled racing to the one person she really loved.

She pulled back on the bow and sent the arrow soaring into the Crank's head. Thomas kicked the Crank off of Newt and Lyra helped him up.

"You good?" Thomas yelled.

"Yeah, thanks Tommy." Newt said grabbing Lyra hand.

Minho led them down a concrete passageway. They reached a door, but it was locked. They pushed on it and kicked it open. Winston was shooting at the crowd of Cranks. Finally, the door flew open and they ran through. Winston was grabbed by some Cranks and pulled back toward the horde of Cranks. The group held onto Winston and it became a tug of war for his life. The group ended up winning and Winston was pulled free. They hid under large chunks of broken concrete until the sunlight rose.


	24. The Blaring Heat

The Blaring Heat

Lyra awoke to the rustling of a crow. Newt's arms were around her.

"Hey get outta here." Thomas yelled shooing the crow away.

Minho jolted awake as Thomas stood up.

"Are they gone?" Newt asked sitting up.

"Yeah, I think we're safe for now." Thomas replied looking around.

"We should get moving. Let's pack it up." Thomas said getting stuff back into their backpacks.

Aris slowly stood up. Winston tried to stand, but he groaned in pain. Frypan helped Winston stand. They climbed over the rubble. When they reached a clearing they saw large tall structures completely gutted.

"What the hell happened to this place?" Frypan asked looking around.

"I don't know" Newt replied, "It doesn't look like anyone's been here in a long time."

"I hope the whole world's not like this." Aris commented.

"I think it is, most of it at least." Lyra answered.

A whooshing sound could be heard if someone listened close enough.

"Hang on. Stop." Thomas said standing still, listening to something.

Lyra and Thomas must have been hearing the same thing.

"Do you hear that?" Thomas asked the group.

The whirring of an aircraft approaching got louder. Lyra's eyes widen with terror. Her aunt was supposed to travel to the WCKD facility and be there in the morning. Thomas must have seen the look on her face because that moment he said, "Get down. Everybody hide."

The group scurried around and hit under the concrete chunks and cars. A large hovercraft flew overhead. Lyra recognized it, she used to have to clean it if she disobeyed an order, it was her aunt's ship.

"They are never gonna stop looking for us, are they?" Minho asked.

"Nope." Lyra answered grabbing Newt's hand.

The group slowly emerged from their hiding spot and started walking. Lyra noticed that Winston was having a harder time. They stopped at the crest of a sand dune. The mountains looked so far away.

"That's where we're going!" Thomas yelled over the wind, pointing at the mountains in the distance.

"That's a long way off" Newt commented.

Just as they were about to keep walking Winston collapsed in the sand.

"Winston! Hey, Winston!" Thomas yelled trying to wake Winston up.

Winston started gasping and gurgling.

"He is hurt pretty bad. What do we do?" Teresa looked around scared.

"Winston. Can you hear me?" Newt asked leaning towards Winston, "It's okay. You are going to be okay."

The group rigged a stretcher to carry Winston. They all took turns carrying Winston, even when a sandstorm blew around them. They took shelter under some rubble. Thomas stood by a crest of a dune. Teresa walked up to him.

"How is it looking" Newt shouted from the shelter.

"It's a little further." Thomas answered.

Lyra walked up to Thomas and Teresa as Next said something to Frypan and Aris. Teresa was showing Thomas something on her neck.

"Really a little further? Newt wouldn't like that answer" Lyra smirked at Thomas, then realized that there was a marking on Teresa's neck, "What is that?"

"They did something to me." Teresa said pulling back her hair, "First it felt like I was waking up from a dream or something. Then they all started coming back."

"Your memories?" Thomas asked.

Lyra stared at the mountains, "What do you remember?"

"I remember the first time they brought you in. I was taller than you then and faster." Teresa said, "I remember when Lyra first showed her uniqueness for the first time. We were playing tag and she ran too hard and started glowing blue."

Lyra continued to stare at the mountains.

"I remember why we were there." Teresa said, "We thought we could fix all this. I think we should go back."

Lyra turned around and looked at Teresa, "Even if we thought we could fix this. We can't. Going back is not an option. WCKD is not good, it is not helpful. I thought the same thing you did. I was in the organization further than you were. Now I know differently. I am not innocent anymore. I know full well what WCKD has done. If you knew the whole truth you would shiver."

"Go back after everything they've done to us." Thomas said with shock.

"It's not that simple-"Teresa started

"Yeah, I think it is that simple." Thomas cut her off.


	25. Goodbye To A Friend

Goodbye To a Friend

A gunshot broke the hostility.

"Hey" Frypan yelled, "Guys get down here."

Lyra, Teresa, and Thomas ran towards the rubble.

"Winston give me that. What are you doing?" Frypan yelled, yanking something away from Winston.

"What's going on?" Newt asked turning around as Lyra ran up.

"What happened?" Lyra asked.

"I don't know. He just woke up and grabbed the gun and then he tried to…" Frypan explained

"Give it back, please." Winston said crawling on the ground.

Lyra noticed he started to look like a crank.

"Winston, you okay?" Thomas knelt down by Winston.

Winston started to throw up a liquid black tar-like substance. Lyra started crying she wrapped her arms around Newt.

"I'm not gonna make it." Winston said breathlessly, "Please, please. Don't let me turn into one of those things."

Winston reached for the gun. Newt grabbed the gun out of Frypan's hand and gave it Winston.

Lyra started sobbing as she got closer to Winston.

"Get outta here." Winston said.

"Goodbye, Winston." Newt said.

"Goodbye, my friend." Lyra whispered through tears.

She knelt down and kissed his forehead. As she neared him, the veins in her skin started glowing. One by the one they said goodbye to Winston and left. The heat blared down on them as they walked along the crest of the sand dunes. Tears streamed down Lyra face. Newt put his arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. A gunshot echoed. They all stopped that turned back to the rubble. Lyra started crying. Newt put his hand in hers and started leading her to keep walking. They reached a flat land and decided to camp by a dismantled ship. Aris added more wood to the fire. Lyra cuddled up to Newt. Her eyes were still raw from crying.

"I thought we were supposed to be immune." Minho said staring into the fire.

"Not all of us, I guess." Teresa said looking at Lyra.

"If Winston can get infected, we should assume so can the rest of us." Newt said.

"I never thought I'd say it… but I miss the Glade." Frypan sighed.

Lyra started to tear up thinking about the Glade, but there were no more tears left for her to shed.

Thomas got up and walked away from the group. Newt and Lyra followed.

"You haven't slept since we left the maze." Lyra said sitting down next to Thomas.

"I don't think you have either." Thomas said looking at her.

"Nightmares?" Lyra asked.

"Yeah, I see their faces, Zart, Alby, Chuck, Winston." Thomas said staring at the nothingness.

"I get it. I see them too." Lyra commented.

They sat in silence for a minute.

"Frypan was just letting off steam." Newt said.

"He is right though. I'm the reason we are stuck out here." Thomas said.

"You are the reason we are free." Lyra added.

"The others may have their doubts that it fine. They would follow you anywhere." Newt said

"They would follow you too." Thomas stated.

"Naw, it is different with me and you know it. We all have our roles to play." Newt said.

"I don't know where we are going." Thomas confessed, "We're lost."

"We have been lost before." Lyra commented.

Thomas gave a look to Lyra, "Not like this."

"There is a place out there for us. I don't know where it is. But I do know that a lot of our friends have died for us to get this far. So we can't give up. You can't give up. I won't let you." Newt said patting Thomas on the back, "Come on man, get some sleep."

Newt got up and went back to the firepit.

"Come on. We will have to fight the nightmares together." Lyra said getting to her feet.

The next morning was just the same sweltering heat as they trekked toward the mountains.


	26. A Ray of Hope

A Ray of Hope

That night Thomas awoke Lyra and the rest of the group in a hurry. Lyra could see lights in the distance. Behind them, lightning struck around them. They started running towards the lights. The lightning continuing to strike around them. Newt, Frypan, Aris, Teresa, and Lyra made it to safety when lightning struck right next to Minho. Which sent Minho and Thomas flying. Lyra ran out and pulled Minho to the safety of a warehouse. Thomas got up and ran behind her. She laid Minho down, She couldn't see his chest moving nor could she tell if he was breathing.

"Who has a light?" Thomas asked.

A flashlight light appeared.

"Minho" Lyra yelled at the unconscious Minho, "Wake up. Minho. I need you to wake up."

Lyra started to tear up and started to pound on Minho's chest, "You are not going to die on me."

She pounded on his chest again. Minho started to groan. Lyra cheered a sigh of relief as she hugged Minho. Minho had become like her family as Ben had been.

"What happened." Minho said dazedly.

"You got struck by lightning." Thomas said.

The group slowly helped Minho to his feet.

"Hey, what is that smell?" Lyra asked stepping closer into the darkness.

She turned the flashlight on. A Crank lunged at her as Newt pulled her back towards him. His arms wrapped around her. The Crank didn't get far as it could have because it was chained up. As they shined their light around more Cranks lunged at them. The group huddled closer until a door opened on the far end of the space.

"I see you have met our guard dogs." A female voice said from the doorway.

She walked closer to them just out of reach of the Cranks. She had short black hair, a torn tunic, green hooded jacket, white leggings, and brown boots. Lyra thought she looked a little bit like George.

"You guys look like shit." The girl said, "Come on. Follow me. Unless you want to stay here with them."

She turned and started walking away. The group followed her through a warehouse-like structure, filled with other people.

"Come on. Jorge wants to meet you." The girl said.

"Who is Jorge?" Thomas asked.

"You'll see." The girl responded.

As they walked through the different areas others started to stare at them. Lyra grabbed Newt's hand and squeezed it tight.

"No one's come out of the Scorch in a long time." the girl stated, "You've just got him curious. And me too."

Newt, Frypan, Minho, and Lyra looked around as the forming crowd behind them. Newt wrapped his arms around Lyra.

"Anyone getting a bad feeling about this place?" Newt whispered.

"Let's hear him out, see what he has to say." Thomas said to the group.

The girl led them up to Jorge's office. The girl said her name was Brenda. Jorge was an older man and he was listening to a radio.

"They are here." Brenda said entering the room.

Jorge shushed her. He messed with the radio until there was nothing but static.

Jorge turned around, "Do you ever get the feeling the whole world's against you?"

Thunder rumbled outside. The group looked at each other.

"Three questions. Where did you come from? Where are you going? How can I profit?" Jorge asked looking at the group.

The group stood in silence looking at each other.

"Don't all answer at once." Jorge said looking at Thomas and Lyra.

"We're headed for the mountains." Thomas said.

" We're looking for the Right Arm." Lyra said.

The people behind them laughed.

"You're looking for ghosts, you mean." Jorge said sipping some water.

"Question number two. Where did you come from?" Jorge asked.

Lyra and Thomas exchanged glances. Lyra shook her head. They would be sent back if they told these people. WCKD would pay tons of money for the property to be returned.

"That's our business." Minho said.

Jorge made a face. Some of the men forced the group down to their knees.

"Hey, get your hands off of me!" Lyra yelled.

Brenda grabbed a scanner and started to scan the back of their necks. She checked the scanner. The group stood back up.

"You were right." Brenda said handing the scanner to Jorge.

"Right about what? What is she talking about?" Thomas asked.

"I'm sorry, hermano. Looks like you're tagged. You came from WCKD." Jorge said looking at Thomas and Lyra, "Which means…"

"We are very, very valuable." Lyra finished staring at Jorge.


	27. In Trouble Again

In Trouble Again

The men with Jorge started to crowd around them. Newt put his arm around Lyra's waist pulling her closer to him. The men grabbed the group and took them to a pit. They tied the group's feet and hoisted them into the air. Lyra, Thomas, Newt, Frypan, Aris, and Teresa hung upside down.

"Good plan, Thomas" Minho said sarcastically, "Just hear what the man has to say. Really working out for us."

"Oh. Shut up. Minho" Thomas snapped back, "Maybe I can reach the rope."

Thomas bent to try and reach his legs but was unsuccessful. Jorge walked in.

"Enjoying the view?" Jorge asked jokily.

"What the hell do you want?" Lyra snapped back.

"That is the question." Jorge said, "My men want to sell you back to WCKD. Life has taught them to think small. I'm not like that. Something tells me that you're not either."

"Is the blood rushing to my head or is this shank not making any sense?" Minho asked.

"Tell me what you know about the Right Arm." Jorge ordered.

"I thought you said they were ghosts." Newt snapped back.

"I happen to believe in ghosts. Especially when I hear them chattering on the airwaves. " Jorge said walking to the rope holding them up.

"You tell me what you know, and maybe we can make a deal." Jorge said.

"We don't know much." Thomas confessed.

Jorge pulled a lever, which causes them to drop a few inches.

"Okay, okay, all right. They're hiding in the mountains." Lyra yelled, "They attacked WCKD. They got a bunch of kids out."

"That's it. That's all we know." Thomas cut in.

"Yo! Jorge, what is going on." One of Jorge's men walked in.

"Me and my new friends were just getting acquainted." Jorge replied, "We're done now."

"Hey wait. You're not gonna help us?" Thomas asked confused.

"Don't worry, hermano." Jorge replied, "We'll get you back to where you belong."

Lyra got a funny feeling in her stomach when Jorge spoke. Jorge walked away.

"We have to get out of here. Now!" Lyra said reaching for her feet.

They figured out that Teresa could be swung to the lever. Thomas had to push Newt, who pushed Aris, who pushed Minho, who grabbed Teresa and threw her at the lever. Teresa was so close a few times. Minho pushed her again and she grabbed the lever. She undid her feet and helped everyone get to the ground. All of a sudden there was the whirling of a helicopter and Janson's voice boomed around them. Lyra's veins started glow their shimmery blue. They went for the exit but were stopped by one of Jorge's men who had a shotgun.

"We're not trying to cause any trouble okay." Lyra said calmly stepping in the line of fire, her hands up, "We just got to get out of here."

"Is that so?" The man asked, then he spoke into a walkie talkie, "Janson, I got'em for ya. I'm bringing'em down. Don't shoot us."

The man then turned to the group, "Come on. Let's go."

Lyra lunged that the man, the gun fired, but missed everyone. The man regained control and pointed the gun at Lyra. Newt tried to pull her back, but she stood unmoved.

"You little jerks!" The man shouted.

There was a loud gunshot. Lyra instinctively grabbed her stomach. She fell into Newt's arms and pulled her hand away, but there was no blood. It took her a minute to realize that the man had been shot. Brenda stood behind the man, her gun still smoking.

"Come on," Brenda order running out of the room.

The group followed her. They ran back into Jorge's office. A song began to play over the loudspeakers.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go." Jorge yelled pushing open a window and pulling down a zip line, "I'll lead to the Right Arm, but you're gonna owe me."

He grabbed a harness and jumped, following the zip line.

Brenda pulled down another one. Minho, Aris, Teresa all zip lined their way to Jorge. Brenda left the room, running.

Thomas followed her. Lyra started to follow, but Newt grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him. She felt her lips press against his.

"Be careful." Newt said staring into her eyes, "I can't lose you."

"I will always come running back to you. I love you." Lyra said before she kissed him one more time.

"I love you too." Newt said as Lyra ran off after Thomas.


	28. Split From Friends

Split From Friends

Lyra ran into the room behind Thomas. Brenda was looking for something.

"Brenda, come on. What are you doing?" Thomas yelled.

Brenda found what she was looking for and they ran out of the room. They were cut off by WCKD soldiers. The soldiers fired at them but missed. Lyra and Thomas followed Brenda through the warehouse. Lyra and Thomas at just reached the other side of the warehouse when the music stopped. All of a sudden, explosions happened around them and the warehouse started to cave in.

Newt had seen the explosion, but he waited for a moment to see if Lyra had made it to the zip line. Frypan led him to the rest of the group. Newt's heart sank a little.

Lyra, Thomas, and Brenda jumped down an elevator shaft and moved out of the way just as the rubble came down on them. They coughed.

"You okay." Brenda asked the both of them.

"I think so." Lyra said standing up.

"Yeah, great." Thomas replied.

Brenda showed a flashlight around. There were no exits around.

"How are we going to get back to others." Thomas said panicked.

Lyra started to glow blue, "I...I...I need to get back to Newt...This can't be it for us… We have to get outta here."

"Relax. I'm gonna get us out of here." Brenda said putting on her backpack.

Lyra picked hers up and checked its contents, her dad's notebook, her keycard, bow, and arrows. Everything was there. Brenda gave Thomas a flashlight.

"Why are you helping us?" Thomas asked Brenda.

"Trust me, it's not my idea." Brenda said still collecting some belongings and shoving them into the backpack, "Jorge seems to think you guys are our ticket to the safe haven."

"The what?" Lyra asked

"You know, paradise." Brenda responded, "Safe from the sun, free of infection. Supposedly the Right Arm had been taking kids there for years. Immunes, anyway."

Brenda got up.

"You know where that is?" Lyra asked.

"No, but Jorge knows a guy. Marcus. He used to smuggle kids up into the mountains." Brenda answered moving some debris, "If Jorge made it out, that's where he'll be taking your friends."

"If he made it out?" Thomas asked with a hint of shock in his voice.

"You know what? You ask a lot of questions." Brenda snapped back.

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Lyra added giving a look to Thomas smiling.

"Can you just come over here and help me with this?" Brenda ordered.

Lyra and Thomas helped Brenda remove a metal storm covering and the three of them jumped down into the sewer.

The sewer smelled like rotten eggs, mixed with vomit and urine. Lyra wrinkled her nose at the smell. Brenda led the way through the darkness. It looked abandoned. There was always screeching in the distant. They came to a fork in the road. Brenda didn't know where to go next. Thomas and Lyra picked a way to go, but when they turned around Brenda was not there.

"Brenda!" Lyra shouted.

"I'm over here." Brenda answered, "Look at this."

Lyra and Thomas walked to Brenda. She was standing in front of a wall with black gooey branch-like lines on it.

"What is this stuff?" Lyra asked looking closer at it.

They followed the gooey substance. It strung together and created an almost cave-like structure in the sewer system.

"What the hell is this?" Thomas asked looking around.

"I don't know." Brenda responded.

There were bodies mixed with the strands of the gooey substance. The substance seemed to originate from the bodies. Squealing came from some of the tunnels. A rat emerged, it looked sick and disoriented. It had the flare. The rat was grabbed by the body that was attached to the wall and eaten. More heavily infected Cranks, which stop resembling humans, started to horde onto the rat's body. Brenda backed in a Crank, which still looked a little human. Thomas kicked it away from Brenda and Lyra. The Crank roared sending the rest of the horde after Thomas, Lyra, and Brenda. The three turned and ran down the corridors. The horde followed them. They kept running until they made it to the sunlight. They climbed up the rubble of a fallen skyscraper. Cranks still behind them. They kept climbing until they reached a staircase. They ascended the stairs. Every so often they would be able to get rid of one or two Cranks. Brenda grabbed a railing but it broke and she flew backward through a door and landed on a pane of glass. Thomas and Lyra reached the doorway. Thomas and Lyra slowly made their way close to her. As Brenda stood up the glass started to crack. Thomas reached his hand out to her. They were inches apart. Then a Crank came through the door and grabbed Brenda. Brenda kept fighting it off trying to grab Thomas' hand. Lyra grabbed Thomas as Thomas slid down grabbing Brenda as the Crank bit her ankle. Thomas broke the glass with a pipe holding on to Brenda as the Crank fell to the ground far below. Lyra pulled Thomas back to safety. They made their way back down to the ground. They rested for a moment before they reached a road. Brenda checked her injury. Lyra bandaged Brenda's wound.

"The Right Arm can help." Lyra said, "We need to hurry and find them."

They reached what was left of civilization. People were living in what they could build, searching the rubble for food, water, and essentials of life. The three walked through the streets until they reached a large house with music blaring from it.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Thomas asked as they approached the mansion.

"Are you here for the party?" An older woman asked.

"Uh...No. We're looking Marcus. This is his place, isn't it?" Brenda asked the woman.

"This is my place." A man in a dark suit answered.

"Are you Marcus?" Lyra asked walking closer to the man.

"Marcus doesn't live here anymore." The man confessed.

"Do you know where we can find him?" Thomas asked.

"Sure, sure. He's over in Zone B," The man pointed over his shoulder.

"Okay. What is Zone B?" Thomas asked.

"It is where they burn the bodies." The woman answered, walking toward the man.

"Has anyone else been by here looking for him?" Lyra asked hopefully, "A group of kids around our age. They had a brunette girl with them. One of the boys walks with a limp."

"You know what, I think they might be inside." The man said thinking.

The man then produced a jar filled with a green liquid, "Here. Drink this."

The man opened it and handed the jar to Lyra.

"What is this?" Lyra asked eyeing the liquid.

"Price of admission." The man replied.

"Drink it!" The man yelled.

Lyra grabbed the bottle and took a large drink from it. Brenda grabbed it next and sipped from it. Thomas grabbed it and started to slowly drink from it. The women tipped the jar up so Thomas would drink more. Thomas handed the jar back to the man, who was now laughing at them.

The man pushed them into the mansion, "You three, enjoy the party."

The place was sparsely lit. With tons of people dressed kind of funny inside.

"Maybe we should split up. See if we can find the others." Brenda said walking away from Thomas and Lyra.

Thomas and Lyra made their way through the crowd. They watched people shoot chained Cranks for fun. It made Lyra sick. She turned but Thomas was nowhere to be found. She thought she caught glimpses of Newt in the crowd. She followed them until she spotted Newt in the middle of the crowd. Something was different, Newt's eyes were bright blue, like hers, his veins were visibly black, and a black tar-like substance dripped from his mouth. Newt looked like a Crank. Lyra screamed in terror. Newt came running towards her, she turned and ran away. She pushed past crowds of people. Lyra didn't know where she was running to, she just had to get away from Newt, tears streaming down her face. She ran down a hallway and tried the doors, they were all locked. She reached the last door down the hall. She turned the knob, she could hear Newt right behind her as she opened the door and shut it as soon as she as in. Lyra leaned against the door, crying her eyes out. The shook, causing Lyra to scream each time it did. Lyra put her hands to her ears. Voices echoed inside her head.

"_You are the cure...WCKD is good...Daughter of the maze...Humanity's last hope...Find the cure…"_

Then everything went black.


	29. Reunited

Reunited

Lyra awoke with Minho looking over her. Lyra sat up Thomas was on a mattress next to her.

"You look horrible." Minho said examining her.

"Where is Newt?" Lyra gasped.

Minho looked to Teresa, they didn't say anything. Stress and worry overcame Lyra. She could feel her veins pulsing blue. She was close to tears. Minho looked back over to her.

"Lyra, you need to calm down. Newt is here. He is okay." Minho said grabbing her arm.

Minho helped Lyra to her feet.

"I suggest you talk. You son of a bitch." She heard Jorge scream.

She turned and saw Jorge punch the man from the entrance. She got up and went over to Newt.

"Hey. You okay?" Newt said, moving over.

"Yeah. I'll be fine." Lyra said sitting down next to him.

Newt put his arm around her and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'm sorry you are going to have to leave my house." The man said.

Newt turned to Thomas, "Looks like you have been having fun."

They turned their attention back to Jorge and the man.

"Listen. I don't enjoy hurting you." Jorge said as he punched the man in the face.

"Where is the Right Arm, Marcus?" Jorge asked calmly.

"Wait that is Marcus?" Thomas asked pointing to the man.

"The kid catches on quick." Marcus said, "Are you the brains of the operation?"

"I know you know where they're hiding." Jorge said grabbing Marcus' hair.

Marcus groaned.

"So you tell me, and I'll make you a deal." Jorge said letting go.

Jorge and Marcus talked for a minute.

"You're eyes are still a little red." Newt whispered to Lyra, "What happened?"

"I was crying because of a vision the drink Marcus made us drink gave me." Lyra whispered back.

"What was the vision?" Newt whispered concern behind his accent.

"I saw you as a Crank." Lyra whispered looking at Marcus' bloody face.

Newt kissed her on the forehead again, "I promised to protect you."

"And I promised that I will always come running back to you." Lyra said kissing Newt on the cheek.

Newt turned back to the conversation Jorge and Marcus were having, "What's he talking about?"

"I'm talking about supply and demand." Marcus explained, "WCKD wants all the immunes they can get. I help provide that for them. So I lure the kids in...They get drunk, they have a good time. And then, later, WCKD comes in...they separate the wheat from the chaff."

Lyra stood up, "You give WCKD more subjects! Your the reason the problem continues. What happens those children will turn your stomach into knots."

Marcus looked to her, "How do you know."

Lyra stared at Marcus, "I just know."

Marcus looked a little scared as Lyra sat back down next to Newt.

"I changed my mind, hermano." Jorge said punching Marcus, "I do enjoy hurting you."

Jorge finally got Marcus to tell them how to get to the Right Arm. Jorge also managed to get Marcus' car. Aris and Brenda filed into the way back. Minho, Teresa, and Thomas sat in the second row. Jorge drove the car, Lyra between Jorge and Newt. Newt's arm was around Lyra.

They drove to the mountains. They reached a small tunnel that was blocked by cars and other debris.

"Well, I guess we're on foot." Jorge said as they exited the car.


	30. Under Attack

Under Attack

They made it past a few cars and were walking towards a tunnel. All of a sudden there were gunshots.

"Get down" Jorge yelled.

"Take cover." Newt yelled grabbing Lyra and covering her.

Lyra pressed up against a car in between Newt and Minho.

"Hey, is everyone okay out there?" Thomas yelled

"Yeah!" Everyone yelled back.

Lyra pulled out her bow and arrow. She clicked a button on the quiver and pulled back the bow. She peered over the hood of the car to see if she could see who was shooting. But there was nothing.

"Anyone know where those bloody shots came from?" Newt yelled.

"I'm looking." Lyra whispered to him.

A bullet bounced off the hood inches from Lyra's face. Newt pulled her back down, concern clear on his face.

"Get ready to sprint back to the car, and hold your ears." Jorge yelled.

Lyra was about to poke her head again when she heard the click of a gun behind her.

Two girls with scarves pointed guns in their faces. They corralled them into a group. That was when the darker skinned girl pulled down her scarf.

"Aris?" The darker skinned girl hugged Aris.

"Oh my God. Harriet?" Aris said hugging the darker skinned girl.

The other girl pulled her scarf down too. Lyra couldn't believe it, the other was Sonya. Lyra knew her before the mazes. Lyra only knew Harriet from knowing Sonya.

"Aris, you know these people?" Lyra asked.

"Yeah, we were in the maze together." Arai answered.

"I guess could have guessed that." Lyra snapped back.

Sonya looked at Lyra like she recognized Lyra.

"Lyra?" Sonya asked

"Yeah. You remember me?" Lyra asked hugging Sonya.

"I somehow didn't forget my glowing blue veined best friend" Sonya squealed.

Everyone looked at the two girls weirdly.

"Before the maze." Lyra explained.

Harriet whistled the all clear. People came out of their hiding places. They started moving the group to a van and taking them to the encampment.

They traveled a little way before they reached the encampment. They got out and started walking towards some tents.

"You guys are lucky you found us when you did." Sonya said, "We're moving out at first light. Where's Vince?"

"Who is Vince?" Thomas asked.

"He's the one who decides if you get to stay." Harriet said.

"I thought the Right Arm was supposed to be an army." Minho said.

"Yeah, we were." A man answered, "This is all that is left of us. A lot of good people died getting us this far."

The man pointed the new group, "Who are they?"

"They are Immunes. Caught'em coming up the mountain." Harriet answered.

Lyra looked over her shoulder to Brenda. Brenda didn't look good.

The guy was named Vince. He told off Harriet for trusting one person in the group. Then Brenda fell to the ground. Jorge ran to Brenda. Vince found the bite mark on her ankle.

Vince pulled out his gun, "Crank. We got a Crank!"

Thomas and Lyra ran in front of the gun.

"You don't need to do that. We can help her." Lyra yelled her hands in the air.

"She is not dangerous yet. This just happened." Thomas added.

"You shouldn't have brought her here." Vince yelled at them.

"We had nowhere else to go. We need to help her." Lyra stated.

"Just listen. Please. I told her that you could help." Thomas stated, "There's got to be something you can do."

"I can put her out of her misery." Vince said pointing a gun at Brenda.

"Vince that's enough! Let him go." A brunette female walked towards them.

"She is infected, Doc." Vince said to the female, "There is nothing we can do for her."

"No, but they can." The female looked toward Lyra and Thomas.

"Oh my God! Dr. Mary Cooper!" Lyra ran to the woman and hugged her.

"Lyra it is good to see you again. I am glad you are alive. I feared the worst when I heard you would be put in the maze." Mary said, "Hello, Thomas.

"You know me?" Thomas asked.

"Interesting. It makes sense they'd put you in the maze." Mary said, then she turned to Lyra, "I thought they would wipe your memory."

"I got stung too many times. The memory serum was reversed by the virus. Threw up enough, but my memory is intact." Lyra replied.

" I was worried they killed Thomas after what he did." Mary said kneeling down by Brenda.

"What did Thomas do?" Lyra asked turning to Thomas.

Lyra never did ask herself why Thomas was placed in the maze.

"The first time we spoke, you said you couldn't take it anymore. Watching your friends die... The last time we spoke. You gave me the coordinates of every WCKD compound, trial, and lab." Mary stated.

"He was our source." Vince said looking to Thomas.

"You kept your promise." Lyra said hugging Thomas, "Thank you."

"We couldn't have pulled all this off without him." Mary stated, "Take her to a tent. Get these guys some warm clothes."


	31. Healing and the Start of War

Healing and the Start of War

A little while later, Mary was drawing blood from Thomas. She had asked Lyra to run back and forth. The Right Arm, Harriet, Sonya, Aris, Newt, Frypan, and Minho watched her. Lyra let her emotions go, she thought about her parents, the friend she lost to the maze, and the friends she still had. Then Newt flashed into her mind, how her heart skips a beat when he looks at her, how her heart froze in fear when the Griever stung him, how she fell in love with him before she entered the maze. She stopped, her veins glowing brightly, and walked to Mary who withdrew her blood. She mixed Thomas' enzyme with her blood and injected that into Brenda who fell asleep.

"How long will that give her." Thomas asked.

"It is different for everyone, but testing proved that Lyra's blood can help increase the timeframe." Mary answered, "She'll be fine."

Lyra exited the tent with Jorge and Mary.

Vince walked up to her, "Are you patient zero?"

Lyra looked at Vince, "Yes. I am the first subject of WCKD."

Vince walked away and Lyra found Newt.

"Did you ever like Thomas?" Newt asked.

"He was like a brother." Lyra said holding his head in her hands, "I love you to death, Newt. I would do anything for you."

Lyra pressed her lips to his. Newt wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I am glad you found him again." Mary commented looking at the two of them.

"What is she talking about?" Newt asked looking to Lyra.

"Before I was sent into the maze. I already liked you. I told you the day I was sent in. You kissed me." Lyra answered.

Lyra saw Thomas exit the tent, she kissed Newt on the cheek and walked over to him. Jorge walked up to Thomas and hugged him.

"I am glad we could do something." Lyra said

"Go and see her." Thomas said holding the tent flap open.

Jorge walked into the tent. Lyra and Thomas went back to Newt, Frypan, and Minho. They sat in silence for a minute.

"I wish Alby could've seen all this." Newt finally said, he slipped his hand into Lyra's as she put her head on his shoulder.

"And Winston." Frypan added.

"And Chuck." Thomas added looking at something in his hands.

"And my parents. I know they wanted me to be happy." Lyra said tearing up.

"Chuck would have been proud of you Tommy," Newt added patting Thomas on the back.

Frypan yelled to Aris.

"I kind of like that kid." Frypan admitted.

"I still don't trust him though." Minho said.

"Minho you don't trust a lot of people." Lyra joked.

Lyra could feel Newt's hands getting cold. She blew on his hands warming them up. She smiled at him.

"Where is Teresa?" Thomas asked.

"She is up there." Newt replied pointed to a ridge.

Thomas left the group. Newt turned to Lyra and kissed her. Frypan let out a cheer. Minho clapped. Lyra kissed Newt again.

"You two are so cute together. I didn't know there was something between the two of you ." Minho said.

"I am surprised you didn't know." Lyra said looking at him.

"Why?" Minho asked.

That question also appeared to be on Frypan's and Newt's mind too.

"Ben knew. I told him." Lyra said.

The sky had grown darker and the air grew colder. Lyra cuddled next to Newt.

Lyra looked to the skyline, she stood up. There were lights growing closer to them. Her heart froze for a moment.

_Aunt Ava,_ she thought as she saw the lights, _Teresa ratted us out, she betrayed us. _

A helicopter flew overhead and fired a missile at the encampment. It exploded in a ball of fire. Lyra prepped her bow and arrows. WCKD soldiers stormed the camp. She started firing arrows at the soldiers. She made her way to Vince, Harriet, Frypan, Newt, and Minho. She was shooting arrows left and right. She moved to get a better shot when a soldier threw a WCKD bomb. The bomb exploded causing Vince, Harriet, Frypan, Newt, and Minho to collapse convulsing.

"Newt!" Lyra yelled making her way to Newt who was on the ground.

A WCKD soldier grabbed her and carried her to where the other Immunes were being rounded up. Lyra was kicking and screaming. They bound her hands and sat her sit on her knees.

They did the same for Newt, Frypan, and Minho. They sat them down next to her. The scanned the backs of their neck.

"Zero!" The soldier said reading the scanner results for Lyra's neck.

Janson walked up to Lyra, "Where is Thomas?"

"Far away from you." Lyra responded spitting at Janson's feet.

Janson kicked Lyra in the chest, she fell over gasping for air.

"Right here." Thomas answered from a hill.

Lyra got herself up and started to undo the bindings on her wrists.

"Why didn't you run?" Minho whispered.

"I am tired of running." Thomas answered.

A WCKD hovercraft landed. A blonde woman dressed all in white exited and walked over to Janson.

"Is this all of them?" She asked.

"Most of them." Janson responded, "It'll be enough."

"Start loading them." The woman ordered.

"Yes, ma'am." Janson responded.

Lyra looked to the woman in white, "Auntie!"

The woman looked to Lyra, "Lyra!"

Lyra got up as the woman hugged her, "I hoped I would see again, my dear. Your parents would be so proud of you."

"My parent taught me to never be afraid of the monsters. They taught me to trust my instincts. I am trusting my instincts now and standing up to the monster in front of me. You are a horrible, cruel person. I know my parents did not want me the maze. You put me in that maze. You are not my auntie Ava. You are a monster." Lyra shouted at her.

"I am sorry you feel that way, my love. I was doing what was best for humanity." Ava answered calmly.

Thomas stood up and stood next to Lyra. Teresa stepped toward Ava. Frypan, Minho and Newt stood up and stood next to Thomas. Newt stood next to Lyra.

"What is going on?" Newt asked.

"She is with them." Thomas answered.

"Since when?" Minho asked.

"Oh, Teresa's always had an evolved appreciation of the greater good. Once we restored her memories, it was only a matter of time." Janson answered.

"I'm sorry." Teresa said.

Lyra felt something growing inside of her. It was a hot red rage.

"No matter what you think of me. I am not a monster. I am a doctor." Ava insisted, "This is all just a means to an end."

"No matter the cost right? Were my parents part of the cost? How about my friends? Or me? Am I part of the cost?" Lyra said looking into Ava's eyes.

"I just need more time." Ava said.

"More blood you mean." Mary corrected.

"Hello, Mary." Ava said, "I am sorry we had to meet again in these circumstances."

"I am not sorry my conscious is clear." Mary said proudly.

A gunshot rang out. Mary's stomach started to bleed. Janson's gun was still smokey. Mary died in Vince's arms.

Thomas had a bomb in his hand. Teresa, Janson, and Ava tried to reason with him. Lyra stood next to him. Minho, Newt, and Frypan followed suit. Newt slipped his hand into Lyra's and squeezed tightly.

"We're with you, Thomas." Newt said.

"Until the end." Lyra added.

"Do it, Thomas. We are ready." Minho and Frypan said.

"We're not going back there." Lyra said patting Thomas on the back.

Lyra closed her eyes ready for the heat from the blast. Instead, a horn from a truck honked. Lyra opened her eyes and turned her head. The truck hit a helicopter and shattered it. Soldiers scrambled. The Right Arm regained some hope. Janson had Thomas pinned and was pointing a gun at him. Lyra let go of the string sending an arrow flying to Janson's shoulder. The Right Arm started shooting back at the WCKD soldiers. Minho picked up a gun and started shooting at the soldiers. Frypan, Thomas, Newt, and Lyra kept running.

"Minho, let's go!" Thomas yelled over his shoulder.

A soldier shot and hit Minho. He collapsed convulsing. WCKD soldiers grabbed him and carried him off to the hovercraft.

"Minho" Lyra yelled trying to run to him, but Newt stopped her.

Jorge led them further up the mountains to safety.

Morning came quickly after the events of the night. The camp was still smoldering. They collected any usable supplies.

"What do we do now?" Frypan asked

"Well, we pick up what's left of us." Vince answered, "We stick to the plan and get you kids to the safe haven. Then we start over, I guess."

Thomas stood up and grabbed a bag, "I'm not going with you."

"What?" Vince asked.

"I made a promise to Minho. I wouldn't leave him behind. I have to go after him." Thomas said.

"Hey, kid look around you. WCKD just kicked our butts." Vince argued.

"I'm in." Lyra said standing up and looking at Thomas, "I want to take down WCKD."

Frypan and Newt stood up.

"Thomas listen to me." Newt spoke, " I have known Minho for...Well as long as I can remember. So if there was any way that we could help him, trust me, I would be up there standing next to you. This, what you're talking about...is impossible."

"More like suicide." Jorge added.

"I have done the impossible and suicidal before. I can do it again." Lyra said.

"Maybe," Thomas said, "But I know what I'm supposed to do now."

"It's not just about Minho. It's about all of us. Us being safe." Lyra added.

"It is about everyone they have taken, everyone they will take." Thomas continued, "They'll never stop. So I'm going to stop them. I am going to kill Ava Paige."

"I have to admit. I'd like some revenge." Harriet added.

"That was a good speech kid. So what's your plan?" Vince asked.

The group turned to Thomas. Thomas gave a look back.

_This is it_, Lyra thought, _This is war. Ava will not like the girl the maze spit out. The girl who grew up with the friends she swore to protect. _

Lyra was ready to unleash her true potential on WCKD. She was ready to destroy it. But they had to come up with a plan and get more help.


	32. The Daughter of the Maze: Death Cure

THE DAUGHTER OF THE MAZE

DEATH CURE 


	33. A Rescue

A Rescue

It had been almost a year since Teresa betrayed them. Almost a year since Sonya and Aris were taken by WCKD. Almost a year since Ava and Janson captured Minho. Lyra has been trying to track down where Minho was being taken. She had narrowed it down a few times, but they had always been a little too late. Vince did manage to help some other immune children get out of WCKD custody. He and others were repairing a ship to take them to the safe haven. A sharp pain came from her stomach. Lyra put her hand on her stomach and took a step back. It had been almost 9 months since the Right Arm doctors told her. She wasn't even showing either. Newt was thrilled when she told him what the doctors told her. She hadn't told the rest of the group. She didn't want them to fuss over her, Newt was already doing enough of that. She was pouring over some maps when Newt walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Still looking?" Newt asked

"Yeah, we always just miss him." Lyra said staring at the maps.

"How are you?" Newt asked turning Lyra around so that she faced him.

Newt stared into her bright blue eyes. Lyra stared back into his brown eyes.

"Stop asking. I am fine. I want to focus on getting Minho back." Lyra answered.

"You have an idea where he is going to be?" Newt asked.

"I can do one better. I know how he is going to get there." Lyra said looking at the maps.

She kissed Newt and walked into a meeting room where Vince and Thomas were talking.

"I have a way to get Minho." Lyra said laying the map on the table, " WKCD is transporting him and other immunes on a train."

"What?" Thomas asked

"This is the route they will be taking." Lyra said pointing on the map.

Thomas looked at Lyra, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Lyra said staring at Thomas.

Vince, Newt, Jorge, Thomas, and Lyra came up with a plan. They told the rest of the group.

Brenda, Frypan, and Harriet liked the plan. It was going to be very dangerous. As Lyra was explaining the plan, Newt looked at her with worried eyes. After she was done explaining, the group left, while Newt stayed behind.

"I really don't want you to be so involved in this plan." Newt said grabbing her hands and holding them against his chest.

"Newt. I will be okay." Lyra reassured him.

"But it is not just you this time." Newt shot back placing a hand on her tummy.

"Newt, keep your voice down." Lyra looked at him, "Don't you think I know that. I am not completely careless, but I am not fragile either."

Lyra took a deep breath and looked at Newt, "Show me your arm."

Newt stepped back, "It is gone. I am better."

"Okay. Newt, I promise I will be careful. I love you." Lyra said pressing her lips to his.

"I love you too." Newt replied.

Lyra and Newt left the room. The sun was beating down on them. The group loading everything up. Newt, Lyra, and a small group loaded into a transporter. They were driven out into the middle of nowhere. The group got out and hid behind some of the large boulders. Lyra checked the clock on her wrist.

"Any moment now" Lyra whispered to Newt.

Lyra turned her head. A metal train was traveling on a magnetic track. After a while, she saw two dots moving on top of the train. Then the engine detached from the compartment where they transported the WCKD subjects. The train slowed and stopped right in front of where Lyra, Newt, and their small group was hiding. Newt emerged from his hiding spot and carried a special backpack and blowtorch that Lyra created. Thomas tapped on one of the compartments, "He is in here."

Newt lit his blowtorch and started on the locks holding the compartments to the train. Thomas and Vince secured the compartment. Lyra got out a gun and her bow and arrows. She shot at the WCKD soldiers who were approaching.

"They are coming." Lyra yelled behind her.

"Be careful." Newt yelled as he cut the lock.

Lyra aimed her arrows and let them soar through the air hitting several WCKD soldiers.

A hoverjet hovered above the compartment, Thomas and Newt secured the compartment to the thick line that Frypan dropped down from the hoverjet. Lyra took some steps toward the soldiers firing her gun, a few soldiers dropped to the ground.

"Vince get up here." Thomas yelled.

"Lyra hurry." Newt yelled towards her.

Lyra turned and sprinted toward the compartment rising in the air. Vince jumped and grabbed the bottom rung of the ladder leading to the rest of the group. Lyra jumped right after Vince and grabbed Vince wrist. Vince helped Lyra climbed up the ladder. Vince was right behind her. Thomas continued to shoot at the WCKD soldiers. Lyra reached the top, Newt hugged her tightly.

"Don't scare me like that again." He whispered in her ear.

"Newt, I will always come running to you." Lyra said before she kissed him.

The rest of the group cheered at a successful rescue.

Thomas hugged Lyra, "Thank you, Lyra. We couldn't have done it without you."

Lyra smiled.


	34. Disappointment

Disappointment

Newt used the blowtorch again to unlock the compartment. Lyra and Thomas were standing close by anxious.

"Is it done yet?" Thomas asked.

"Don't rush me." Newt answered still staring at the lock.

It wasn't long before Thomas opened the door. He, Frypan, Newt and Lyra piled into the compartment. It was filled with subjects. Rows of three seats on both sides of the compartment with the subject's hand shackled to a chain dangling down from the ceiling. It was musky and warm in the compartment. The group took the time to scan the group.

"Aris, Sonya." Thomas sighed with relief as he approached their friends.

"Hang on everyone. You are safe." Lyra announced to the rest of the group.

Thomas turned to her, "He's not here."

Tears swelled in Lyra's eyes as she tried to cut the chains off of the subjects. Lyra helped the subjects out of the compartment. They all formed a group around Vince.

"Come on in guys." Vince shouted to the group, "All right, listen up. I know you've all been through hell. I wish I could say our troubles are over. But we're not through this yet…"

At this point, Lyra stopped listening. She went to find Newt in their sleeping area, he was sitting on their bed.

"I am sorry. I really thought I had him this time." Lyra said putting her head on his shoulder.

"I know. I really don't want you taking risks like that though. I am not just worried about you anymore." Newt sighed.

"Newt I am not fragile or frail. I have been doing this for almost 9 months and I will continue to do this until Minho is back with us." Lyra stated.

"I will always protect you." Newt said kissing her forehead.

"I will always come running to you." Lyra laughed.

Thomas walked up to them, "I am going to check on Aris, you both wanna come?"

Newt and Lyra followed Thomas, to the medical area. Aris was drinking something. Harriet was already standing beside Sonya. Sonya stood up and hugged Lyra when she walked in. Soyna returned to her seat next to Aris.

"Took you guys long enough to rescue us." Aris laughed.

"It is good to see you too bud." Thomas answered.

"What happened?" Lyra asked

"I fought back." Aris explained, "Tried to anyway."

"You're lucky you found us at all." Sonya interrupted, "They had us on the move a lot."

"Don't I know it. I have been tracking you lot since WCKD took you." Lyra answered.

"Any idea where they were heading?" Newt asked.

"All I know is, they kept talking about a city." Aris answered.

Lyra looked up and froze in thought.

"I didn't think there were any cities left." Harriet added.

"That's because there aren't." Brenda answered, "not still standing, anyway."

"I don't think that is actually true…" Lyra said as she exited the space to pour over the maps.

Lyra could still hear their conversation.

"Okay, wait. What about Minho?" Thomas asked, "Why wasn't he on the train?"

"Sorry, Thomas. He was." Aris answered.

Tears swelled in Lyra's eyes again. She wiped them away and pulled out her father's notebook.

_We are still safe in the city as the virus spreads around us. They are looking for more subjects to help us understand why Lyra and so many others can withstand the virus. _

Lyra looked back to the map. She then grabbed it and laid it out on the table around the group.

"The city is there." Lyra said pointing to a large circle on the map, "It's a few hundred miles. Based on the railway, everything Aris told us and this..."

Lyra put her father's notebook on the table.

"What is that?" Frypan asked

"My father's notebook. I found it in the control room back in the maze. It does mention a city free from the virus." Lyra answered staring at the notebook.

"That is got to be where they are headed. That is where they are taking Minho." Thomas stated, "We take everyone who can fight. Follow the roads where we can. We can make it back within a week."

"It took us almost a year to get here. We got over 100 kids here now." Vince responded, "We can't just hang out here forever not after what we just pulled. You wanna wander off to some random point on the map. You don't even know what's there."

"I do." Jorge interrupted, "It's been a few years, but I've been there. The Last City. That's what WCKD called it. It was their whole base of operations."

"It's home." Lyra mused.

The group looked at her, that was when she realized she said that out loud.

"What?" Vince asked shocked.

"The Last City. That was where I was born, grow up. That was where the first subjects were brought to WCKD. I wasn't sent to the maze compound until I was 14. The Last City is my home." Lyra said staring at the map.

"If it is still standing that is the last place you wanna go, hermano. That's the lion's den." Jorge continued.

"It is nothing we haven't done before." Thomas shot back.

"Yeah with months of planning, reliable information, the element of surprise, none of which we have now." Vince argued.

"Vince, I have thought this through." Thomas shot back again, "Would you just hear me out?"

"The last time we went off half-cocked...I lost everything." Vince raised his voice, "You remember that?"

Lyra, Thomas, Newt, and Frypan exchanged glances.

"Look, I know its Minho. All right? But you can't ask me to put those kids on the line for one man. I won't do it." Vince stated calming down.

A static noise cut the tension. Warbled voices could be heard over the static.

"Searching the grid now." A guard's voice bursted through the noise of the static.

Newt and Thomas turned around to look at the radio. Lyra looked to her right.

"A is complete." A voice answered.

"Scanning B-sector now." Another voice came over the radio.

Lyra looked to Vince, "Shit, hit the lights."

The compound went dark. Lyra went outside. She could see the searchlights from WCKD hoverjets searching an area nearby.

"They are getting close." Vince said walking up to her

"You're right." Thomas said, "We can't stay here."


	35. Plan B

Plan B

"He is going to go after Minho." Lyra whispered to Newt as they lay in bed.

Newt's arm was around Lyra.

"Yeah, I figured." Newt replied looking at the ceiling.

"We should help him. It is Minho we are talking about." Lyra said sitting up.

"Fry and I could help him. You need to stay here." Newt said kissing her neck.

"Newt. If you go, I go. When are you going to realize we are in this together." Lyra turned and kissed Newt, "I will be careful."

Lyra got up and changed. Newt stared at her beauty. For a moment he could tell that she was showing, the veins in her stomach area were shimmering a glittery blue, but it was quickly covered by Lyra's outfit from the scorch. They woke up Frypan and the three of them made their way to a truck. Newt and Lyra waited for Thomas. A couple of minutes went by before Thomas stood in front of them in the dark.

"Where do you think you are going then?" Lyra asked as Newt turned on a desk light nearby.

"Newt...Lyra." Thomas sighed.

"Don't be a twat about it..." Newt said approaching Thomas.

"We're already in." Lyra finished Newt's sentence.

Newt took Thomas' bag.

"No. No, not this time." Thomas protested, "Look, even if we find Minho, there's no guarantee we make it back from this."

"Well, you'll need all the help you can get then, won't you?" Newt responded opening the door revealing Frypan in the front seat.

"Besides, if you stand any hope of survival. I will have to come along, like in the maze. I know what I'm doing." Lyra said getting into the back seat.

"Well, we started this together. May as well end it that way too." Newt commented climbing into the truck.

"Okay, let's go get him back." Thomas said getting in.

Frypan started to drive them towards the Last City. Lyra fell asleep on Newt's shoulder. It was late morning when Lyra opened her eyes. She had awoken to Newt kissing her forehead. They were at a mandatory infection checkpoint. There were broken and abandoned cars around the site. Nature started to take the site back with overgrown vines and shrubs scattered around. Everything looked rusted and abandoned. The truck stopped at the entrance tunnel. They all got out.

"You want us to go in there?" Newt looked sideways at Thomas.

Thomas and Lyra exchanged a glance.

"I don't wanna come across as too negative, I mean if I was a Crank that is exactly where I would be." Newt said looking at Thomas.

Lyra gave Newt a concerned glance. She didn't like when he joked like that, not after her nightmares.

"We don't have much of a choice." Lyra answered.

"All right. I get shotgun." Newt said turning back to the truck.

Lyra followed him. She opened the door behind him.

"I love you." She said looking at him

"I love you too." Newt answered looking at the tunnel.

They piled back into the truck. Frypan drove slowly into the tunnel. Newt started scanning with a flood light.

"Take it nice and slow." Newt said looking around, "Lyra… I want you away from the window."

"Why?" Thomas asked.

Lyra and Newt stayed silent. Lyra did what Newt asked. Frypan and Thomas exchanged a quick glance. Frypan stopped the car when Newt spotted a Crank ahead of them. The four of them looked at each other. The Crank just stood still gaggling in the headlights.

"It's okay. It's just one." Thomas said reassuringly, "So take it slow, go around him. We will be fine. Take it slow."

Newt put the floodlight away and rolled up the window, "Lyra stay in the center of the back. I don't want you near the windows."

Thomas looked to Lyra as she followed Newt's orders.

"Why is he suddenly treating you this way?" Thomas whispered to Lyra.

Lyra gave him a look, "He has always been this way towards me. He just couldn't express it before."

Thomas turned to his left. Right at the window was a female Crank. Thomas let out a gasp causing everyone to turn to the window. Thomas leaned back and put pressure on Lyra stomach. Lyra winced silently in pain as she backed towards the opposite door. Then a male Crank thudded on the window behind Lyra. Thomas pulled Lyra away from the door and towards him. They stayed in the center of the back seat as the Cranks pounded on the window.

"Fry we gotta go." Thomas yelled.

"Just floor it, Fry!" Newt yelled.

Frypan stepped on the gas pedal. A Crank jumped on the hood and started to break the windshield. Frypan tried swerving around to shake the Crank off. Frypan managed to shake the Crank off, but caused the truck to flip over and crash.

"Everyone okay?" Thomas asked

"Lyra?" Newt asked concerned

"I'm okay." Lyra responded rubbing her stomach.

Thomas helped her out of the truck. Lyra helped Newt out, while Thomas helped Frypan out.

"Are you sure, you're okay?" Newt said as he held her wrist.

Lyra leaned in a kissed him, "Yes. We both are okay."

All of a sudden there was a loud screeching from the group of Cranks they just escaped from. Newt held on to Lyra tighter. He reached down to his thigh holster, it was empty.

"Shit." Newt said under his breath.

Lyra pulled out her guns. She was loading it.

"Fry we need to move now!" Lyra yelled over her shoulder as Newt pulled her backward, she was still trying to load the gun.

Frypan pulled out a shotgun and shot the Crank at point blank range.

The growling and screeching grew louder in the distance. The four turned and ran. Frypan and Thomas noticed that Lyra was not as fast as she had been, but still faster than them. She suddenly stopped as a group of Cranks was walking towards them in the other direction. They were surrounded by Cranks.

"I love you." Lyra looked toward Newt.

Newt held her tighter, "I will always protect you."

Lyra started shooting the oncoming Cranks.

Suddenly there was the revving of an engine that bursted through the sounds of the screeching Cranks. Brenda popped up from the roof and started shooting the Cranks

"Get in." She yelled.

The four of them got in. Newt held Lyra tightly as Jorge drove them out of the tunnel.

"I am impressed, you almost lasted a whole day." Jorge joked.

Brenda turned gave them a look.

"I'm sorry. I didn't wanna bring you guys into this." Thomas sighed.

"I think what he is trying to say is thanks for saving us." Lyra stated.

Newt leaned into Lyra and whispered, "We need to tell them."

"Not right now." Lyra whispered back.

Jorge continued to drive towards the Last City.


	36. Going Home

Going Home

"Don't get you hopes up. That checkpoint back there was the city's last defense. If that was overrun, chances are the city is, too." Jorge confessed.

Newt looked out the window, "Yeah, unless they found some other way to keep the Cranks out."

This caused everyone to turned and look where Newt was looking. Jorge stepped on the breaks quickly, bringing the truck to a stop. They all got out. Lyra looked out past the sprawling hills. The tall skyscrapers basked in the pale blue lights of the city. The city was surrounded by a large wall, encompassing the whole city. Lyra's memories flashed to times when she played with her parents, being introduced to Newt, finding out the truth about WCKD, as she stared at her home. Tears started to form in her eyes as she rubbed her belly.

"Funny, spent three years trapped behind walls, trying to break out. Now we are trying to break in." Newt stated walking to Lyra and holding her hand.

"I don't know if I want to go back. I don't know if I can handle it." Lyra said to Newt resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah. It is hilarious." Frypan said to the group.

"How do we get it?" Thomas asked.

"Don't look at me. Those walls are new." Jorge responded.

"I guess that's WCKD's answer for everything."Lyra half-joked.

"Well, we ain't gonna figure it out from up here." Brenda turned back to the truck.

Newt turned Lyra back to the truck. She looked over her shoulder again at the city that was once her home.

"You really think he's in there?" Newt asked walking up to Thomas.

"I guess we'll find out." Thomas responded.

"You know she's gonna be there, too." Lyra added giving a concerned look to Newt.

Even just referring to Teresa made Lyra's blood boil with rage, hurt, and betrayal. Thomas and Lyra exchange a glance. Jorge started the engine and they drove down towards Lyra's home.

They arrived in the outskirts of the city. It looked like the scorch that surrounded everything else in the world. They got out of the truck and walked into the crowd. Newt grabbed Lyra's hand tightly. People were wearing gas masks.

"This place has really gone through hell." Jorge commented.

"We just gotta stay together." Thomas added looking around to the group.

Newt looked at Lyra, her veins were slightly glowing their shimmering blue, his face changed when he saw her.

"What?" Lyra asked her face mirroring the concern on Newt's face.

Newt pulled the hood on Lyra's hoodie

over her head, "Your glowing. I don't think you want WCKD to see."

Someone was shouting over a loudspeaker, "We are the voice of the voiceless…"

Lyra turned her head to the street. Men with masks on and guns came by riding on an old armored WCKD transport vehicle trying to rally the others on the street. One of the masked men felt familiar to her. She gripped Newt's hand tighter. Lyra looked up, drones were scanning the crowd. They must know that they were here. The group made their way to the barricade that lead to an entrance to the city.

Thomas and Jorge were talking about something. Lyra knew this was not going to be a way in. Even if she was subject 0, her aunt would not want to see her again. She just wanted to get Minho and any other immunes out of WCKD control.

"What the hell did we get ourselves into?" Frypan asked looking to Lyra and Newt.

Newt grabbed Lyra's waist pulling her closer to him. Lyra looked around in the crowd. People were throwing rocks at the large gate. They made their way to the edge of the barricade.

"This doesn't feel right." Jorge yelled at Thomas.

Newt keep looking around, everytime he did he held Lyra a little tighter and closer.

"Hey guys we gotta go now. Look." Newt said to the group as he pointed to the men in masks walking toward them.

Jorge and Lyra were ready for a fight. Then a metallic sound blared through the noise. Large cannon-like structures, on top of the wall, came to life and pointed to the crowd. The group ran, large explosions happened around them. Lyra had to duck to avoid getting hit. They ran through alleys until they got captured by masked men. One grabbed Newt and shoved him into a van with Frypan and Jorge.

"Newt, Newt!" Lyra yelled as she was shoved into a van with Thomas and Brenda.

The men closed the doors. The drive was rocky. Lyra kept silently suppressing the pain in her stomach. She kept her eyes focused on the masked man in the middle. He felt familiar. She didn't know how. The people she know where either on the other side of the wall or in the vans, everyone else was dead. The vans turned into a walled compound. The van stopped.

"Get out." A muffled voice came from a masked man. Thomas, Brenda, and Lyra climbed out. The other van stopped, fighting noises came from the back of the van. Newt and Jorge bursted out of the back of the van. Newt started punching on one of the masked men.

"Where the hell is she?" Newt and Jorge both said as they punched the mask men they were holding on to.


	37. Old Wounds

Old Wounds

"Hey, hey, hey!" Brenda yelled running to Jorge.

Lyra ran upto Newt, "I'm right here. Newt, I'm right here."

Newt stopped punching the masked man and hugged her. She pressed her lips to his. The masked men pulled everyone apart, as Brenda stood by Jorge. Jorge stopped punching and hugged Brenda.

"We are all on the same side here." The masked man, that Lyra felt she recognized, said.

Lyra narrowed her eyes at the masked man.

"What do you mean same side? Who the hell are you?" Thomas asked walking up to the man.

The masked man took off his mask. As he did, Lyra put her hands to her mouth. It was Gally.

"Oh my god, you're alive." Lyra mused to herself.

"Hey, Greenie." Gally said looking at Thomas.

"Gally?" Thomas asked shocked.

Frypan, Newt, and Lyra exchanged glance. Thomas lunged and punched Gally across the face. Lyra couldn't blame Thomas, after what Gally did, Gally deserved it. Newt ran up to Thomas.

"Stop it, whoa. Stop it." Newt held Thomas' fist back, "Stop."

"He killed Chuck." Thomas said angrily.

"Yeah, I know." Lyra walked up to Thomas., "I am just as angry as you are."

"I remember. I was there too, all right" Newt added, "But I also remember that he was stung and half out of his mind."

Lyra looked to Gally on the ground.

"Just calm down. All right?" Newt said to Thomas.

Thomas stood up and walked to Frypan. Gally got up

"Kind of had that coming." Gally said straightening his clothes, "Anybody else? Fry? Newt? Lyra?"

Lyra walked towards him. Gally prepared himself for her to punch him. Instead she wrapped her arms around him.

"Your alive. I thought I lost a close friend. I thought I lost a lot that day." She said

Gally tightened his squeeze around Lyra. Newt coughed loudly. Lyra let go and walked back to Newt.

"You know I love you." Lyra said giving a look to Newt.

"How? How is this possible?" Newt stammered

"We watched you die." Lyra finished Newt's thought.

"No you left me to die. And if we hadn't found you when we did, you'd be dead right now." Gally said.

Lyra put her hand on her stomach and gave Newt a look.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Gally asked the group.

"Minho." Newt said, "WCKD as him here."

"We're looking for a way in. My aunt and I aren't on speaking terms." Lyra said crossing her arms.

"I can help with that." Gally said, "Follow me."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Thomas said as Gally turned to lead them somewhere.

"Suit yourself." Gally said, "But I can get you through those walls."

"Come on, we need him this time." Lyra whispered to Thomas.

They decided to follow him.

"What happened to you after the maze?" Gally asked looking at Lyra.

"Um… We escaped from WCKD, we met up with a group that is trying to dismantle WCKD...I told the group the truth I told you before we left...My aunt is WCKD...I am the cause of all of this...The group also knows that I am head over heels in love with Newt. I have been since I entered the Glade...I liked him before we entered the Maze." Lyra explained, "You?"

"After the maze, I got picked up by a group headed to the city. They realized I was immune, patched me up, and they brought me here to Lawrence." Gally explained, "This group has been at war with WCKD ever since they took control of the city. But WCKD can't hide behind those walls forever."

"Day's gonna come and they're gonna pay for what they've done, is that right?" Lyra added.

They stopped and Gally turned to them, "Listen, he doesn't get a lot of visitors. So, let me do the talking. All right? And try not to stare."

They entered the room. There was a man, who looked like a Crank, but he talked like a non-Crank. Lyra assumed that this was Lawrence.

"Gally, glad to see you made it back." The man said.

"It was a slaughter." Gally responded, "There's nothing we can do against those guns."

"That is not entirely true." Lyra piped up.

Gally looked to her.

"They are just hunks of machinery. There is a way to either stop them or outgun them." Lyra stated.

"Who are these people? Why are they here?" Lawrence asked.

"We need to get into WCKD." Thomas said stepping forward, "Gally said that you can get us through the walls."

"Gally should know better than to make promises that he can't keep." Lawrence answered, "Besides, that wall is only half your problem. Getting inside WCKD is impossible."

Lyra took a deep sigh, "Not for me."

"There might be way now too." Gally stated, "It doesn't work without Thomas."

"Is that so?" Lawrence asked.

Lawrence walked closer to them, "Do you know what I am? I am a businessman. Which means that I don't take unnecessary risks. Why should I trust you?"

"Because we can help you. Because I want WCKD to burn to the ground. Probably more than you do." Lyra said staring into Lawrence's eyes, "You see if you get me through those walls. I can get you want you need."

"What is it that you think I need?" Lawrence asked getting mere inches away from Lyra.

Lawrence smelled like death, but Lyra just stared into his eyes.

"Time." Thomas chimed in, "Every last drop."

Lawrence scoffed at them and looked to his medical bag that was attached to him. The bag was almost empty. Inside the bag was the blue liquid that looks just like the stuff Lyra would drink in the maze.

"Is that what I need?" Lawrence asked

"WCKD has something we both want." Lyra stated.

"I'll tell you what. Three can go for now." Lawrence stated, "The rest stay down here with me. Just insurance that you find your way back. We have a deal?"

Lawrence reached out his hand. Thomas shook it.

"Gally show him the way." Lawrence said turning away.


	38. The Way In

The Way In

There was a little argument between Lyra and Newt as the group followed Gally

"Newt, I want to go with you." Lyra said.

"No." Newt said sternly.

"Newt, you're going. I am going too." Lyra stated louder causing the group to stop.

'Why won't you let her go?" Thomas asked, "We need her, she remembers WCKD."

Lyra and Newt exchanged glances.

"What are you not saying, Lyra?" Frypan asked.

"Newt is just worried because I have been glowing a lot recently without the normal provocation." Lyra stated looking at Newt, "Newt is concerned that I might not be very well."

"Newt, we need her." Thomas said looking at Newt

"Fine." Newt said crossing his arms.

Gally pulled up a grate and dropped a ladder down a hole.

Newt sat down and fixed his shoe. Lyra saw him looking at his hand.

"You okay?" Lyra said getting closer to him, "Is it your arm. Do you need another dose?"

"No. I'm good. Just nervous. I need you to be safe." Newt answered

"I will." Lyra said helping Newt up.

"I will always protect you." Newt said hugging Lyra.

"I will always come running to you." Lyra responded squeezing Newt a little tighter.

Thomas, Gally, Newt and Lyra climbed down. Gally shone his flashlight around. They were in a sewer like system. The smell was revolting. It made Lyra almost vomit, she rubbed her stomach.

"This is gross." Newt complained.

Gally pulled a lever. The tunnel lit up with string lights.

"Stay with me we have a ways to go." Gally said as they continued to walk.

"How long have you and Newt been together?" Gally asked.

Lyra and Newt looked to each other.

"A year and a half into our time in the maze trials. Alby did not want anyone to know." Lyra explained.

"Anyone...or me." Gally asked.

Lyra looked to Gally, "I wish I could have told you, but Alby did not want anyone to be jealous. But as you know that didn't start the wars."

Newt and Lyra exchanged glances as he slipped his hand into hers.

"That explains a lot of Newt's behavior in the maze. He never wanted you to get hurt or be in a dangerous situation." Gally laughed.

The tunnel stopped, Gally looked out the hole. There was a loud rushing noise as a train rushed by.

"We have to be quick about this." Gally shouted over the train, "Stay on me, okay?"

As soon as the train passed, Gally jumped on to the tracks. Newt, Thomas, and Lyra followed.

"Right Tommy loves trains don't you." Newt joked.

Gally ran, "Hurry up cause we are going to see another one real soon."

Lyra, Thomas, and Newt took off after him. Thomas noticed then that Lyra was having trouble keeping up with Gally and that her veins were glowing brighter. Lyra took deep breaths, she couldn't suppress the glowing anymore. Lyra looked down, the rail was rattling. A train was coming. She tried to run faster, but in her condition it was hard. Newt was falling behind and the train was approaching fast. Newt fell, with his limp he often had trouble running. Gally and Thomas turned to Newt. Lyra, Thomas, and Gally made it to the exit. Newt was still on the track as the train was approaching.

"Newt" Lyra screamed as she tried to move towards him.

Gally stopped her and went to get Newt instead. The train passed by. Lyra's heart was racing. She couldn't lose Newt. Her heart dropped until she heard Newt groaning. Gally and Newt got up from the rail. They had pressed themselves down so the train would go over them.

Lyra ran up and kissed him, "Don't do that again. I thought I lost you. I cannot lose you."

"Never were great Runners where we Newt?" Gally said helping Newt up.

"I have only got one good leg." Newt responded to Gally.

"Yeah, I have only got one good lung." Gally joked.

"I am just glad that you both are okay. Thank you Gally." Lyra said looking to Gally as she grabbed Newt's hand.

They climbed the service ladder and exited into a large corridor with many people going about their business. They blended into the crowd. They walked by large stations with WCKD soldiers.

"Infection checks, all you have to do is sneeze around here and you get kicked out." Gally explained.

"That is the price of paradise." Lyra added.

They followed Gally through the city. Lyra looked at one of the buildings and stopped.

"What is it, we have to keep moving." Gally said turning back to Lyra.

"I lived there. Apartment 2616, it was the penthouse on the top floor." Lyra said staring at the buildings.

"This is a long way from the Glade." Newt mused as he looked out at the skyline.

"Fifteen minutes to mandatory curfew." An announcer said over a PA system.

"We better get off these streets." Gally said leading them towards Lyra's old home.

"Please Gally. Only for a minute. My parents still own it." Lyra said pointing to the mailboxes, one of which read PAIGE in black letters.

Lyra pulled out her keycard and slid it into the card reader next to the door. The light turned green and the door unlocked. Lyra opened the door, letting Thomas, Newt and Gally in. They took the elevator to the top floor. When the doors opened Lyra walked out into the foyer. The walls were cream color. In the middle of wall across from them was a large red cherry wood door. Lyra put her hand on the door handle and pressed down. The door unlocked.

"Welcome home Lyra Paige. It has been 1825 days since you were last here." An automated female voice spoke throughout the house.

The lights came on automatically as well. It was a spacious open floor concept with a stairwell leading to the bedrooms. Lyra walked up them as the group looked around. Lyra put her hand on the doorknob to her room.

"Are you sure you want to?" Newt's voice spoke from behind her.

Lyra jumped a little, "Newt, don't do that."

She turned the knob and opened the door. It looked like any little girl's room, except there were machinery parts strewn around the room. Newt and Lyra entered followed by Gally and Thomas. Drawing of Grievers, blueprints, and solved maze puzzles lined the walls.

"You really did create the Grievers." Gally mused looking at the drawing.

"Yeah. I created the prototypes when I was 12." Lyra answered.

She looked at a few photos. She gasped a dropped a photo. Gally, Newt, and Thomas turned around to look at her.

"What?" Newt asked putting his hand on her shoulder.

Lyra picked up the picture. It was of her mother, her father, and Janson. She turned the photo over _Maze A Team_ was written in her aunts handwriting.

"Janson was there at Maze A, he knew my parents." Lyra said putting the photo in her pocket.

"Come on we should go." Gally said.

They exited the building and and followed Gally along the streets.

"I know it is hard, but act like you seen the skyline before." Gally said walking.

"I know you don't remember but you both have seen it. You both were some of the first kids brought in." Lyra added.

They stopped at the wall. Gally helped them up, they continued to climb and sneak along the wall until they reached a telescope. Gally pointed to a tall skyscraper building which was brightly lit with blue lights along the walls.

"If they have Minho, that is where they would keep him." Gally stated as he looked through the telescope, "Lawrence had been trying to find a way in for years. Place is crawling with soldiers. They got surveillance everywhere. Scanners on every floor."

"Sounds like a bloody fortress." Newt commented.

"I thought you said you had had a way in." Thomas commented.

"I might." Gally confessed.

"Might? What the hell do you mean by might?" Lyra asked getting annoyed.

Gally pointed to the telescope. Thomas looked through it and back away.

"What?" Lyra said looking through the telescope.

Teresa was in a lab coating sitting in a chair writing on a clipboard.

"No way." Lyra said backing away and looked at Gally.

"I said I had a way in. I didn't say you were gonna like it." Gally commented

They made their way back to Lawrence. Lyra explained what she saw to Newt.


	39. Secrets Exposed

Secrets Exposed

"No. There's gotta be another way." Thomas said to Brenda, Gally, Newt, Jorge, Frypan, and Lyra.

The group was standing around a circular table with the blueprints of the city that Lyra grabbed from her parent's apartment.

"It is not like we can just walk through the front door. You have seen the building." Lyra said with her arms cross.

Her veins were glowing stronger today and her stomach ached. She rubbed her stomach. Newt looked at her with concern, in fact the whole group looked at her with worry in their eyes.

"Teresa is our only way in." Gally responded.

"You really think she's gonna help us?" Thomas asked.

Lyra looked to Newt. He was staring at nothing. Lyra put her hand on Newt's shoulder. He didn't noticed.

"I don't plan on asking for her permission." Gally responded.

"Am I missing something here?" Brenda chimed in, "This is the same girl who betrayed us, correct?"

"I like her." Gally added nodding to Brenda.

"What's going on?" Brenda asked looking to Thomas.

"What are you afraid your little girlfriend is gonna get hurt?" Newt yelled.

Lyra was taken back by Newt's behavior. She tried calming herself, _He said that he was okay. He said that he didn't need more._

Newt and Thomas exchanged a glance.

"Because this has obviously never been just about rescuing Minho. Has it?" Newt continued.

_He said that he was okay. He said that he didn't need more. _Lyra repeated to herself as she took a step back.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Thomas asked looking confused.

Thomas walked towards Newt.

"Teresa. She is the only reason that Minho's even missing in the first place." Newt said standing inches from Thomas, "Now we finally have an opportunity to get him back. And what? You don't want to because of her?"

Newt walked towards Thomas, Thomas walked back towards the wall. Lyra placed her hand on her belly and took a sharp inhale.

"Because deep down inside you still care about her, don't you? Just admit it." Newt's voice rose.

"Newt, I…" Thomas started.

"Don't lie to me!" Newt shouted grabbing Thomas and pushing him up against the wall, "Don't lie to me!"

Brenda, Jorge, Frypan and Gally stood still stunned and scared. Lyra walked towards Newt.

"Newt!" She said sternly tears forming in her eyes, her words could cut glass, "Snap out of it."

Newt seemed to change back to his normal self and let go of Thomas. Newt turned back to the group.

"Sorry." Newt said softly.

Newt walked outside, he was grabbing his right forearm. The rest of the group looked to Lyra. Lyra watched Newt walk away. She could feel them staring at her wanting answers, but she didn't have any, that she wanted to tell anyway.

_Shit, he is lying to me. Lying to my face._ Lyra thought as she shook her head. Lyra put a hand on her hip and followed Newt out. Thomas followed her. Lyra sat down next to Newt. Newt looked over to Thomas.

"Sorry about that, back there." Newt started, "Did I ever tell you about the time I broke my leg?"

Thomas sat down on the other side of Newt.

"It was way back in the maze. I had come up from the box just like all the other guys. Didn't know where I was, didn't know who I was. Even though all my memories were gone I could feel that something was missing. That feeling grew for over a year. I felt empty. I got to the point that I couldn't hack that. I couldn't take it. So one morning I got up early and I snuck out into the maze. I found the tallest wall I could. I climbed up there and I jumped off it. Of course I got completely tangled in the ivy. Snap my leg in three places. I landed hard on the floor. I thought that was it as I heard the clanking of the Griever legs." Newt explained.

"I found him after the Griever stung him. I told him that I could save him. I let me. I ran from wall to wall until I glowed. I spilled my blood for him. I broke all of Alby's rules for him. I was still glowing when Minho found us, somehow. He helped us back to the Glade. We never told anyone the truth about what happened." Lyra finished the story.

"You told me you were okay." Lyra said staring ahead of her, "You lied to me."

"Newt what is she talking about?" Thomas asked.

"I guess I can't hide this anymore." Newt sighed.

Newt rolled up his sleeve of his right arm. The veins were noticeably darker. Frustration rose in Lyra as she looked at his arm.

"Why didn't you tell me it was back. You know I could help you." Lyra said gently shoving Newt's shoulder.

"You know why I didn't want you to cut yourself and spill your blood for me. I don't want you to over exert yourself." Newt replied.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Thomas asked both of them.

"Didn't think it would make any difference." Newt replied glancing at Lyra, "All I know is that WCKD must have put me in that maze for a reason. Maybe it was literally so that they could tell the difference between immunes like you and Lyra and people like me."

Lyra kissed Newt.

"Newt. I wanted you in the maze. I knew I wouldn't be able to survive unless you were there. You told me you loved me a long time before the incident. I loved you, I knew that together we could face anything WCKD threw at us. My parents and Ava didn't like that idea at first, but they soon came around to it. Maybe it was for the reason you said. But I got my way, I got you. I didn't know that they would wipe your memory of me." Lyra explained.

"I love you." Newt replied.

"You know we can still fix this, Newt." Thomas stated.

"He won't let me help him." Lyra explained.

"You know I why I won't. I don't want HER to get hurt too." Newt said shortly.

Lyra stared wide eyed at Newt. Thomas looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Look don't worry about me. This is about Minho. Now he needs us." Newt started

"And I need YOU, Newt. SHE will need you too. Can't you see that?" Lyra pleaded.

"So if there is even the slightest chance that we can save him, we can get him out of there, then we have to take that. No matter what the cost." Newt finished.

Lyra got up and walked back to the group, her veins glowing brighter than ever as tears streamed down her cheek. Thomas and Newt followed her back inside. Frypan, Brenda, Jorge, and Gally were all still standing where they had been when Lyra left.

"Who is SHE?" Thomas asked looking to Lyra, "Before we go through with this plan. I need to know who this SHE is."

Lyra and Newt exchanged glances.

"There is a reason I am glowing so much." Lyra explained, "There is a reason why Newt won't let me cure him."

"Lyra you don't have to." Newt stared

"You were right I should have told them a long time ago. Maybe then you would have let me help you now." Lyra said looking to Newt.

Lyra took of her jacket and tank top exposing her skin. Every vein was glowing and visible. The most visible and brightest veins were around her stomach.

"I am glowing so much because I ..." Lyra started to stammer a little bit, " I'm pregnant."

Frypan and Gally looked at her with surprise. Brenda put her hands to her mouth but Lyra could tell that she was smiling. Jorge said and did nothing. Thomas hugged Lyra.

"It is a girl…" Lyra managed to say as Thomas was squeezing her, "Okay enough of that. I am not fragile, but I do need to think of someone other than myself. Let me restate, I AM NOT FRAGILE."

Thomas let go, "So that is why Newt wouldn't let you help him. He is scared you will hurt the baby or affect its development."

"Exactly." Newt responded.

"That explains why he fusses over you." Frypan added.

Gally looked a little hurt, but he walked to Lyra and hugged her, "I am happy for you and Newt."

"I just wish Minho knew too." Lyra said softly looking to Newt.

They stood around the table and formed a plan.


	40. Face of Betrayal

Face of Betrayal

Lyra couldn't help but think about what the WCKD scientist were doing with MInho. She had only briefly seen the rest of the phases for the cure trials. She did know that it was not doing to be fun for the immunes involved. She had trusted Teresa, and it hurt when Teresa tried to hand her over to her aunt. Lyra felt her veins glowing brighter just thinking about the rage she felt towards Lyra. Lyra knew that Minho was strong, but she didn't know if Minho was strong enough.

Thomas went back to the city to get Theresa. Lyra went too, she wanted some answers. It was not too hard to get Teresa into their trap. Lyra knew that Teresa had some feelings for Thomas. Teresa had feelings for him before the maze trials started.

Lyra was able to get into the WCKD building. She remember the layout from the time she spent there. She made her way to her aunt's office.

"It is amazing what humans will do when their survival is at stake." Ava said.

Lyra waited outside the door listening. She could see Ava sitting in a chair and Janson was standing near Ava.

"Squeeze them hard enough, there's nothing they can't do." Ava added, "No line they won't cross."

"We've had a bit of a set back, nothing we aren't use to." Janson replied.

Lyra looked at the clock on the wall. It was getting late. She snuck back out and met Teresa and Thomas.

"Find out anything." Thomas asked as Lyra ran up to them.

"Not what I wanted to know." Lyra replied

"Teresa, I wish I could say it is glad to see you." Lyra said snarkily to Teresa as she turned to her.

Thomas put a bag over Teresa's head and they led her to a church outside the walls. Lyra sat her down in a chair and Newt pulled off the bag. Teresa looked around to the group. Then her eyes fell on Gally.

"Gally?" Teresa mused.

"Here is how this is gonna go. We're gonna ask you some questions, and you're gonna tell us exactly what we need to know." Gally said looking at her.

"We'll start off simple. Where's Minho?" Lyra asked crossing her arms.

"You guys don't seriously think…" Teresa started looking to Thomas.

Gally moved a chair and sat in front of her.

"Don't look him. Why are you looking at him.? Look at me." Gally said, "He is not gonna help you."

Lyra walked towards her. Teresa's eyes showed shock at Lyra's heavily glowing veins

"Now we know you have Minho in the building." Lyra stated coldly.

"Where?" Gally asked stone-faced.

"He's with the others in holding." Teresa explained, "Sublevel Three."

"How many others?" Newt asked.

Lyra rubbed her stomach.

"28." Teresa sighed.

The group exchanged glances.

"I can make that work." Brenda stated.

"No. No, you guys don't understand. The whole level's restricted. You can't get in without a thumbprint ID. " Teresa stated.

"That's why you're gonna come with us." Thomas stated.

"I don't know." Gally added, "We don't necessarily need her. Right?"

Gally got up and went to the table, "Not all of her. We just need her finger."

"Gally, back off." Thomas stated.

"What are you squeamish?" Gally asked to Teresa and Thomas.

"I guarantee you she's done a lot worse to Minho." Lyra added pointing at Teresa with anger in her voice, "I know what they do, because they did it to me, while I was growing up there."

"That is not the plan. Back off, Gally." Thomas said standing up and walking to Gally.

"It won't make a difference. Do whatever you want to me. You still won't get through the front door. Sensors will pick you up the…" Teresa started.

"We know. We're tagged." Lyra finished Teresa's thought, "Property of the World Catastrophe Killzone Department."

"You're gonna help us with that, too." Thomas said bending down to Teresa's eye line.

Thomas handed her a scalpel, "We want you to untag us."

"Don't say you can't. I know it can be done. I designed the tags myself." Lyra said with her arms crossed.

Teresa got up and started to cut the back of Gally's and Frypan's neck. Lyra watched as she did. Lyra grabbed another scalpel and had Newt sit down. Teresa started on Thomas. They were talking about something.

"What are you thinking about?" Newt asked.

"You. Everything. The little thing growing inside of me. The flare. My past." Lyra said wiping a cotton swab on Newt's neck.

Lyra started to cut the back of his neck gently. She pulled the flaps of skin apart revealing the small metal "tag" imbedded in his flesh. She used some tweezers to get the metal chips out of Newt's flesh.

"There all done." Lyra said cleaning up Newt's neck.

Newt turned and kissed her. Lyra and Newt started to hand out WCKD uniforms.

"How have you been getting her serum?" Teresa asked loudly.

"What are you talking about." Thomas asked.

"Brenda." Teresa answered, "I didn't think she'd still be alive."

"We haven't given her any serum since Mary gave her the dose." Lyra answered looking confused.

"That is not possible." Teresa looked confused, "She should have turned by now."

Thomas got up and walked towards them.

"I don't want Lyra to be apart of this plan. I don't want her hurt." Newt said to the group as Lyra changed into a WCKD uniform.

"Why is she glowing so blue? I have never seen her do that before." Teresa asked.

Lyra exchanged a glance with Newt. Thomas looked to Teresa.

"Your pregnant!" Teresa guessed staring at Lyra.

Lyra sighed and rubbed her belly, "Yes."

"Ava doesn't have to know. But you do need to hide the veins." Teresa responded.

Lyra was a little taken back by Teresa's response.

Gally had stopped Teresa from doing something. Lyra didn't pay attention, she was more concerned about Newt.

"You going to be okay?" Newt asked placing his hand on her tummy.

Lyra placed her hand on top of his and looked into his eyes, "Yes Newt I will be."

Newt helped her into a jumpsuit. She zipped up her suit and grabbed her helmet.

The group made their way to the walls of the Last City.


	41. Breaking Into WCKD

Breaking into WCKD

Getting into WCKD's main labs was not as hard as Lyra first thought. It was way too easy to slip the officers her badge. She had once had the highest level of security clearance, apparently, she still had it. Newt and Lyra were wearing matching red security jumpsuit. They walked by a few other security personnel and towards Teresa, who was being followed by Thomas in a black security jumpsuit. The four of them walked down the open corridors. As they walked Gally in another black security jumpsuit walked in front of them. Teresa led them into a staircase. Gally stopped at the electrical junction box at the top of the stairs. Gally took off his mask as he looked at the panels.

"I can get in here." Gally said looking to the group.

"Throw me a walkie." Thomas added.

Gally threw Thomas a walkie talkie. Teresa, Newt, and Lyra waited for Gally to be done tinkering with the electrical stuff. Thomas continued to descend. Newt started coughing. Lyra could see he was starting to sweat a lot. Teresa shot Newt a worried glance.

"You can make it." Lyra whispered as she kissed his cheek.

Thomas came back up the stairs.

"Frypan we're in. How are you doing?" Thomas spoke into the walkie talkie.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm getting there." Frypan answered back, "Tell Minho 'Hi' for me."

"Hang in there buddy." Lyra stated, she knew Frypan was scared of heights; he must be struggling to climb the crane.

Gally opened the panel cover exposing a tangled web of crisscrossing wires.

"Yeah, this will work." Gally said nodding to Thomas.

"Brenda, what's your status?" Thomas asked into the walkie talkie.

"Working on it." Brenda answered back.

"Copy. Just make sure you're ready on your end." Thomas stated.

Brenda just had to steal a transit bus, it couldn't be that difficult.

"Don't worry. You know I'm gonna be there." Brenda retorted.

Gally attached a device to the wires and closed the panel covering, "Alright let's go."

The five of them descended down the stairs. They made their way to the immune holding room. A guard opened the door. held their guns up, aiming for the guards. Teresa stood off to the side. Within a matter of seconds Newt, Gally, Thomas, and Lyra stunned all the guards in the room, their stun bullets hit every single guard they aimed at. They fanned out and looked into the small rooms. Each room had six kids ranging in ages and gender, all were wearing a blue long sleeved shirt and matching blue sweatpants. Lyra opened the door to one of the rooms. The kids look terrified. Lyra pulled off her helmet.

"Come on, let's go." She said waving the kids out of the room.

Lyra helped Thomas and Newt get the immunes out of the holding rooms, while Gally forcefully questioned a guard.

"Shit." Thomas muttered under his breath.

Lyra looked to Thomas. '

"He's not here." Thomas said looking to Lyra then Newt.

Thomas turned his attention to Teresa, "Where is he?"

Teresa went to the computers. She started typing away. Gally was sawing away at the vault doors, which contained the cure vials. Lyra stopped at a computer screen.

_It showed her at 15 entering her parents' office back at the maze station. It showed her parents walking down the hallway and being stopped by a slender man with short salt and pepper hair walked up to her parents from the other side of the hallway. Her parents talked, her dad looked angry and her mother looked sad. Then the slender man with short salt and pepper hair pulled out a handgun from his leather jacket and fired two shots, one hitting her dad and the other hitting her mom. Her parents' bodies fell to the ground. The man walked down the hall, exiting the frame from where her parents entered. A few moments passed, then Ava walked down the hallway as 15-year-old Lyra exited her parent's office. Ava grabbed Lyra's arm and led her out of frame as four WCKD employees wearing all white carried her parents' bodies in the opposite direction. _

A tear rolled down Lyra's cheek as she watched the footage. She remembered that day, like it was yesterday; the pain still stung. Lyra's stomach began to hurt. She rubbed her belly. She was exerting herself too much, but she had to get Minho and make sure that Newt was safe.

"Somebody's moved him up to the medical wing." Teresa said she looked at her screen, "Thomas, that's on the other side of the building."

Newt, Lyra, and Thomas exchanged glances.

"Alright, take me to him, right now." Thomas said collecting his things.

"All right. I'm coming with you." Newt said walking towards Teresa and Thomas.

"Me too." Lyra stated, followed him, she had no intention of leaving Newt alone.

"No, you're not." Thomas objected, "Both of you, especially Newt, have to stay here and wait with Gally for the serum."

Lyra knew Thomas was right, but Lyra knew that Newt would want to save his friends over his own life.

"You can't do this on your own." Newt retorted, "Minho comes first, remember?"

Lyra knew Newt all too well.

"Just go. We're wasting time." Gally yelled from the vault door, "I'll get the serum. We'll meet you out back."

"Okay, fine let's go." Thomas sighed.

Teresa, Thomas, Newt, and Lyra exited the holding room. Newt, Lyra, and Thomas put their masks back on. They made their way back to the main floor and across the entranceway. They reached the elevator without issue. Thomas pressed the button to call for the elevator. The seconds seemed to last forever. The elevator door opened and the four piled in, Newt, Lyra, and Thomas behind Teresa. The door was almost closed when a hand appeared and the door pulled open revealing Jason.

"Hold it." Jason said as he entered the elevator.

He pressed a button and stood next to Teresa and in front of Thomas.

"You're working late." Jason noted glancing at Teresa.

Teresa just stared at the metal doors.

"See, that's what I like about you, Teresa." Jason continued, "No matter how bleak things get, you just...Well, you never give up. Times like this, you need a friend that you can count on."

"I'll bear that in mind." Teresa noted still staring ahead of her.

"There is one thing you should know. One friend to another." Jason added, "Thomas is here."

Lyra, Newt, and Thomas exchanged glances. Teresa looked at Jason

"A surveillance picked him up outside the walls." Jason continued, "Ava didn't want you to know, but there is a chance that he may try and contact you, and if he does...Well, I'd like to think that I'd be your first call."

"Are you going to kill him?" Teresa asked.

"Would that be a problem?" Jason answered.

The elevator doors opened.

"This is me." Teresa said as she started to walk out the doors.

Lyra, Newt, and Thomas followed her. They made their way through the hallways.

"Thomas, you have to listen to me. Getting that serum won't save Newt. It might buy him some time, but…" Teresa said quickly.

"Just ignore her. She is trying to get inside your head." Newt interrupted.

"Thomas, listen. You know what's going on out there..." Teresa continued.

"People are dying, the world is dying. Save it, Teresa. I've heard this all before." Lyra snapped back.

"There is something about both of your blood I don't understand." Teresa said glancing between Lyra and Thomas.

They stopped at the door to the medical wing.

"Open it." Thomas ordered the impatience in his voice was clear.

"Let me run some tests…" Teresa added, "I promise I can protect you."

Thomas spun around and pulled off his helmet,"Yeah? Like you protected Minho?"

Thomas started getting into Teresa's space. Newt held him back, but Newt couldn't stop Lyra, who had already taken her helmet off and was in Teresa's face

"My parents made the exact promise and now they are dead...My aunt made that promise, then forced me out into the maze...Don't make promises you can't keep Teresa." Lyra said, "How many more people is it going to take. How many more people do they have to round up, torture, kill? Huh? When the hell does it stop?"

"It stops when we find a cure." Teresa stated steadily.

"There is no goddamn cure!" Lyra whisper yelled in Teresa's face.

Lyra and Teresa stood there staring at each other, until Jason's voice came from behind Teresa.

"Don't waste your breath Teresa." Jason yelled, he a gun pointed on Lyra, "They made their choice long ago."

Lyra remembered back to before she entered her parents' office.

_She was talking to Thomas. _

"_What the plan for us here?" Thomas asked._

"_I don't know. It seems like they are preparing for something. They are taking in a lot of food and other supplies." Lyra said. _

"_Can you get in and see?" Thomas asked, looking hopeful at her._

"_Thomas I already told you. Ava is preparing for something bad. I have seen vials of black liquid, very reminiscent of the Flare. I have seen operators working on an elevator to send supplied up to somewhere. I have seen preliminary tests on brain waves and brain function for all the subjects at this station. I have seen the blood tests for all of us. I have seen some subjects go in for testing and never come back. Later, at night, they bring out body bags and a hoverjet carried the bags away. They are looking for something and it has to do with the Flare." Lyra answered._

"_Please Lyra. Do it for Newt." Thomas begged. _

_Lyra sighed, "I'll snoop around my parents' office and see if I can find anything. Just promise me that when you can you will send the coordinates of every maze station and WCKD lab to this."_

_Lyra handed Thomas a piece of paper with a communication routing code that Mary Cooper had sent to Lyra._

_Lyra snuck off to her parents' office._

Lyra knew Jason was right. She did make her choice a long time ago. Other security officers were making their way towards Thomas, Newt, Teresa, and Lyra. Thomas turned the gun and pointed it at Teresa.

"Back up. Tell them to back off." Thomas yelled, "Tell them to back off!"

"Hey, Thomas, Lyra, come on. It's me. " Jason stated calmly, "Lyra, I worked very closely with your parents. And Thomas, I've known you longer than you can remember. You are not going to shoot her. "

"You don't think so?" Thomas asked still pointing the gun.

"Okay." Jason said with a slight smile, he lowered his gun, "Go on. Shoot her. Prove me wrong. Shoot her."

There was just something about how Jason stood with his gun that felt familiar to Lyra, she just couldn't place it. Lyra was pulled from her thoughts when Teresa shoved her, Thomas, and Newt into the medical wing and sealed the door. The fire alarm started to blare out as an orange flashing light started to pulse. Jason shot the glass, but the glass didn't shatter, it was bulletproof. Teresa and Thomas exchanged a glance. Newt pulled off his helmet the three of them ran down the corridor.


	42. A Rescue and an Escape

A Rescue and an Escape

They made their way to level 20. The layout hadn't changed since Lyra's time working at HQ. The medical professionals glared at Lyra, Newt, and Thomas as they walked by, but they had a mission to complete and nothing was going to stand in their way.

Jason would find a way to get into the medical labs soon. Thomas led Newt and Lyra into a storage room. They ducked behind a wall and watched as the security ran pass them. Lyra searched a back cabinet and found a bow and quiver full of arrows. She put the gun aside and picked up the bow and quiver. Newt started to sweat heavily and his couch resumed. Lyra grabbed Newt's hand and held it close to her.

"Ready?" Thomas asked.

Newt and Lyra nodded. They got up and made their way quickly but quietly around the hallways. Lyra looked down a hallway. Ava was walking towards her. Ava stopped when she saw Lyra. Lyra breathed deeply as she drew back the bow and pointed the arrow at Ava.

"Lyra! No!" Newt yelled as he grabbed Lyra and pulled her back towards him.

Newt, Thomas, and Lyra ran down another hallway. The medical teams scurried out of their way.

"Minho! Minho!" Lyra yelled as they scanned all the rooms.

Thomas and Newt shot some security personnel. They kept running down the hallways and scanning the rooms for Minho. They were soon overwhelmed by security. They ducked behind a wall.

"Shit! I'm almost out of ammo." Thomas said checking his gun.

Lyra put her hand behind, the quiver was running low. Newt grabbed something.

"Get back!" Newt yelled, pulling Lyra behind him.

Newt threw a cylindrical object down the hallway. It shocked all the guards standing in the corridor. They ran down a hallway, happy that they got the guards off their back. When the turned a corner a voice yelled.

"You three freeze." It was a security guard, pointing a gun at them and blocking their escape, "Get down on the ground now. I said get…"

The guard couldn't finish because Minho knocked him out by throwing the guard through a glass observation window. Minho panted turning his gaze to Lyra, Newt, and Thomas.

"Minho." Lyra ran up to him and hugged him as tightly as she could.

She could feel Thomas and Newt wrap their arms around her and Minho too.

Minho looked them up and down, "Is this real?"

"Yes." Lyra answered hugging him again.

Guards ran towards them causing the four of them to run down the corridor where Minho appeared from. They zig-zag through the corridors until Jason was ahead of them. Thomas opened a door to their right and they piled in. They locked the door, the room was a lab and blood testing room. Newt and Minho moved things in front of the door. Thomas and Lyra stared out the window. Lyra could see that Thomas was looking at the fountain of water under the window.

Minho looked around the room.

"Oh shit." Minho muttered under his breath as he realized there was no way out. A drilling sound came from the other side of the door and sparks flew from the crack between the door and the door frame. Jason was trying to get in. They had to find a way out now.

"Any ideas?" Minho yelled to Thomas.

"It is doable." Lyra commented to Thomas, looking back down at the fountain, she knew what Thomas was thinking, "You would not believe how deep they made that fountain. It is a backup water supply, it gets purified before it reaches the citizens, but yeah it's doable."

Thomas turned back to Newt and Minho, "Maybe."

They threw a pressurized cylinder out the window. The glass shattered everywhere. They looked down at the fountain as the cylinder splashed into the water.

"Okay, it's doable." Thomas noted, "Just need a running start."

Thomas backed up, Lyra stood next to him, Minho was on Thomas' right and Newt was next to Lyra.

"You sure about this?" Minho asked.

"Not really." Thomas answered.

"Nice pep talk." Lyra commented

"Yeah, we're all bloody inspired." Newt sighed.

Just then the door flew open, Jason and his team started to swarm in. The four of them ran to the edge of the open window and jumped. For a few seconds, there was stillness, Lyra felt like she was flying. Then she splashed into the water. She quickly swam to the surface and Newt helped her out. It was then that Lyra could feel her veins pumping. She looked at her hands, every little vein was pulsing a shimmery blue. Newt, Thomas, and Minho all were busy panting and catching their breaths. They heard the sound of guns cock as four guards walked towards them.

"You four don't move." One of them shouted.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Thomas muttered.

The guards moved in closer to them. Newt grabbed Lyra's hand. As a guard was giving orders another turned a shot each member of that team. The guard approached them and took off his helmet. It was Gally.

"Gally?" Minho panted.

Gally nodded, "Minho."

Gally looked up to where they just jumped from, "You guys are nuts."

Thomas turned to Minho, "I'll explain later."

They ran off. Lyra was able to get a good look at Newt. He wasn't doing too well. The veins around his neck were turning black. They ducked behind some rectangular planters.

"Well, they're definitely pissed." Gally noted.

"How far are the tunnels?" Thomas asked.

"Maybe 12 blocks from here." Gally answered

Newt started to shiver and cough.

"Hey Tommy, he is not doing too well." Lyra said giving Thomas a worried look.

Lyra sat in front of Newt, "Hey Sweetie. You need to hang in there for me."

She pressed her lips to his, " And for Alyson too. She is going to need her father."

She gave a worried glance to Gally.

"We can make it." Gally stated.

Minho crouched in front of Newt, "Newt how are you feeling?"

Newt laughed a little.

"Terrible." Newt sighed, he put a hand on Minho's shoulder, "It is good to see you though."

Minho nodded and moved towards Thomas and Gally. Lyra helped Newt take off the heavy security jacket. He pressed his lips to hers.

"I love you, Lyra. I will always protect you." Newt said as he caressed her face.

"I love you too, Newt. I will always come running back to you." Lyra said as she hugged him.

Lyra gave Newt some space and made her way to Gally, Minho, and Thomas.

"How long has he been like this?" Minho asked.

Gally and Thomas looked to Lyra. Lyra could feel the tears pushing out behind her eyelids. She felt a few tears trail across her cheek.

"He'll be okay. We just gotta get to Brenda." Thomas said placing a hand on Lyra's shoulder, "She's got the serum."

Lyra places a hand on her stomach, she was hurting again.

Thomas went to help Newt. Minho turned to Gally.

"Why are you helping us, Gally?" Minho asked, "I put a spear through your chest."

"Yeah. Nobody's perfect, man." Gally answered.

They got up and started to move towards the tunnel. All of a sudden there was a loud explosion. Fire and smoke leapt into the air as Lyra saw part of the wall erupt sending cement debris everywhere.

"We were supposed to take down WCKD, not the whole damn city." Gally mused as they watched the wall exploded.

Thomas pressed everyone to keep moving. Soon they reached the shopping district.

"The tunnels are right up ahead." Gally announced, "Stay low."

Thomas and Minho set Newt down. Security soldiers were flooding the street. Explosions erupted on the other side of the square as humans, who were living outside of the wall came flooding the streets, ready to fight. The five of them huddled behind a planter. Gunshots rang out, bullets flew past them.

"We have to go." Lyra stated.

Thomas and Minho helped Newt and Gally and Lyra covered them.

Thomas pressed the walkie talkie as they set Newt down, "Brenda are you there?"

"Thomas, I'm here." Brenda's voice responded.

They dodged another explosion.

"We're not going to make it." Thomas said into the walkie talkie, " Just take the others. Get everybody out, while you still can."

"No." Brenda's voice responded, it was calm and steady, "I'm not leaving you. Okay? So forget it."

Lyra looked to Newt, "Hold on."

She grabbed Newt's hand and rested it on her stomach. She could feel the baby kick. Newt's face lit up with happiness.

"Something that will always come running back to you." Lyra said smiling.

"Something worth protecting." Newt said half laughing and half coughing.

"Thomas, don't worry. I'm coming to you." Brenda's voice yelled from the walkie talkie.

"What are you talking about?" Thomas asked.

"Our ride's here." Brenda yelled, "Just look for us near the tunnels."

Thomas and Minho helped Newt as Gally and Lyra scanned the route. They were close. They were going to make it.

"Just leave me." Newt stammered.

A blazing car flew right past them, causing them to stop in their tracks and find another route. They hid in the alleyway. Newt was propped up against the fencing. His breathing was more labored. Newt's eyes started to turn darker and his veins grew blacker. Lyra could feel her veins pumping shimmery blue throughout her body. She kissed Newt's forehead An engine hummed overhead.

"It's them. We gotta go." Thomas yelled, "We gotta go."

"Go without me." Newt said as if he was in a daze.

His mental cognition was deteriorating fast. Lyra could feel the tears pouring down her cheek.

"You could just…" Newt started but started to cough up a black runny tar-like substance.

Newt started to wheeze as he breathed

Lyra grabbed the collar of his shirt, "No, Newt. You cannot give up. I will not let you. You cannot leave me. I love you, Newt. Everything I did, I did so that I could spend my life with you. I have always come running back to you. I will not let you give up on protecting me. You cannot leave me to raise our child by myself. I won't let you."

Lyra could feel Minho's surprised expression as he stared at her.

"You have to help me. Newt, please! Hold on for me. Hold on for Alyson." Lyra said sobbing into Newt's chest.

"Minho, you gotta run ahead, grab the serum, and get back to us as soon as you can." Thomas said steadily, "Minho, go."

"He's right. I can cover." Gally said from behind Lyra.

Minho and Gally ran off ahead. They disappeared behind a cloud of smoke.


	43. Newt's Final Fight

Newt's Final Fight

Thomas looked around as Lyra hugged Newt. Newt kissed her forehead, then turned his head and looked at the fire blazing to their right. Lyra and Thomas were trying to find a way out. Lyra turned back to Newt, he was breathing harder and faster.

"Newt...Newt...Newt." Lyra said shaking Newt by the collar.

"Hey! Hey! Newt!..." Thomas yelled as he started to shake Newt's jacket.

Newt's breathing slowed to a normal pace.

"We are going to try this. Okay?" Lyra said looking him in the eyes, "We gotta move, now. Let's get you up, come on."

She started to stand up. Newt stopped her and handed her a golden locket.

"Take it!" He yelled as he jammed it into her pocket.

Thomas tried to help Newt up, but Newt struggled against him. Newt pulled off a necklace with a small cylinder on it and handed it to Thomas.

"Please...Please, Tommy. Please." Newt sighed as Thomas grabbed the necklace.

"Alright...I need you to give everything you got." Thomas said grabbing Newt's arm, "You and me, right now. Let's go. You ready?"

Newt and Thomas grunted as they slowly made their way to the tunnels. They made their way to the transit center.

"Stay with me. We are almost there." Thomas panted.

Newt collapsed to the ground. Newt gasped for air. Lyra started crying.

"Newt, please...I need you." Lyra said softly.

Thomas started dragging Newt, but he too collapsed from exhaustion.

"Thomas, Lyra." Teresa's voice echoed from the PA system, "Can you hear me? I need you to listen to me. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you two to come back. Thomas, Lyra. You can save Newt. There's still time for him."

Lyra looked over to Newt's almost lifeless body.

"There's a reason Brenda isn't sick anymore. It's your blood." Brenda's voice continued, "Do you both understand? She isn't sick, because you both cured her. She doesn't have to be the only one. All you have to do is come back, and this will all finally be over. Please, just come back. I know you'll do the right..."

Just then the PA system cut out, along with half of the lights in the city. Lyra and Thomas turned back to Newt, who was slowly and awkwardly getting up.

"Newt?" Thomas asked cautiously, he waved Lyra away.

Lyra didn't want to, but she slowly gave Thomas and Newt some space. Her stomach started hurting again.

Newt turned around. His eyes didn't reflect back the Newt that Lyra loved. He was a shell of his former self. Newt growled as he lunged at Thomas. Thomas shoved Newt to the ground.

"Newt? Newt, it's me. It's me?" Thomas repeated.

Lyra started crying, her vision from the house in the scorch came true. She couldn't handle seeing Newt turn into a Crank. Newt kept lunging at Thomas, Thomas kept dodging. Newt finally got Thomas on the ground. They rolled around a while. Lyra tried aiming her arrows, but she couldn't get a clean shot that won't kill Newt. She just couldn't take that shot.

"Tommy, kill me!" Newt panted as he looked to Thomas.

This caused Lyra to cry even harder. Thomas got up and inched closer to Newt. Newt's breathing became faster and quicker. Newt lunged at Thomas and knocked to the ground again. He sat on Thomas' chest, trying to bite him. Newt pressed his forearm into Thomas' neck. Newt's breathing returned to normal.

"I'm sorry, Tommy." Newt panted again.

"It's okay, it's okay." Thomas sighed.

Newt grabbed Thomas' handgun from Thomas' thigh holster and pointed it at his own Newt.

"No." Lyra screamed and she shot an arrow, knocking the gun out of Newt's hand.

Newt growled and charged at Lyra, who swiftly moved out of his way. Newt brandished his knife and swung it at Lyra, who managed to get out of the way. Thomas tackled Newt, but Newt got the upper hand and started to force the knife into Thomas' upper chest. Thomas grabbed Newt's wrist and pushed the knife away from his chest. Lyra grabbed Newt's shoulders and pulled Newt off of Thomas. Newt stood up and faced Lyra. His breathing slowed.

"Lyra…" Newt grabbed her waist and pulled her close to him, "I love you."

"Newt, I love you too." Lyra said through tears, she hugged him tighter.

When they separated, Newt turned around to face Thomas.

"Sorry, love." Newt whispered under his breath, but Lyra could still hear him.

She got a feeling about what he was going to do. Newt's breathing quicken and more rapid. He charged at Thomas, swinging the knife wildly. Newt got closer and closer to Thomas. All of a sudden there was the sound of a knife finding flesh to dig into. Newt and Thomas were holding one hand on each other's shoulders and one hand on the knife. From where Lyra was standing she couldn't tell who the knife dug into. She didn't have to see to know. As soon as the sound of the knife finding flesh rang out. Lyra ran over to the two of them. She dropped to her knees just as fast as Newt's body hit the ground, the knife still in his chest.

"I will always protect you." Newt spattered, looking into her eyes.

"I will always come running back to you." Lyra said as she pressed her lips to his.

When she leaned back up, Newt wasn't breathing. She cried into Newt's chest, as the memories flooded back.

_Newt was one of the first subjects brought in. She was 10 when she stood next to her aunt as the group was led into a lounge-style room. _

"_Welcome to the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. You are all here to change the world…" Ava stated._

_Lyra made her way to a blonde boy with brown eyes._

"_Hi." She whispered, "I'm Lyra."_

"_They call me Newt." The boy whispered back._

"_You wanna race around the gym?" Lyra asked. _

"_Yeah" Newt responded. _

_The two of them suck out the presentation and chased each other around the gym. After a while, Newt stopped._

"_What?" Lyra asked as she stopped too._

"_You're skin is glowing." Newt mused. _

"_Yeah it does that. Ava says it's a special thing, but it means that I can't with other kids most of the time." Lyra explained._

"_I think it's cool. I won't tell anyone. Promise," Newt said _

_They were inseparable since. _

_14-year-old Lyra scanned the group entering the corridor to the new WCKD outpost. Thomas walked up to her. _

_She hugged them, "Thank god you're here. Have you seen Newt?"_

"_Not yet." Thomas said, "Lyra you will find him. It is obvious you like him."_

_Lyra gave Thomas look, "That would only matter if he liked me back."_

_Lyra left Thomas and pushed through the crowd. At the back of the pack was Newt. Lyra ran up to him. _

"_Newt." Lyra hugged him tightly._

_He hugged her just as tightly, "I thought I lost you."_

_A year later, a 15-year-old Lyra snuck into the boy's sleeping quarters. _

"_Newt, Lyra's here to see you!" Frypan yelled as Lyra closed the door behind her. _

_Newt got up from his bed and followed Lyra up to the roof. The stars shone like diamonds in the black sky. _

"_Newt." Lyra said looking out at the vast horizon, "I love you."_

_Newt spun her around to face him and pressed his lips to hers._

"_I have been waiting years for you to say those words." Newt smiled at her. _

_Lyra loved the way Newt smiled. _

_Newt was the only thing on her mind when she walked through the door in the wall into the maze. Newt was always on her mind as she survived in the maze. She was thrilled to see Newt again when she walked into the Glade, but she was heartbroken to find out that he didn't remember her. It was a cruel thing for her aunt to do._

_They spent the next year and a half talking, again they were inseparable. They would often flirt with each other when no one was around. One early morning, Lyra saw Newt venture into the maze alone. She grabbed her bow and arrows and slowly followed. She heard the sound of bones break, then the scream from a Griever, then Newt cried out in pain. Lyra found Newt laying in a mangled mess of ivy, his leg bent in a funny way, and a Griever sting in his leg. Lyra dropped to her knees._

"_Lyra. I'm sorry." Newt said as he wiped away tears that her falling across her cheek._

"_Newt. Why?" Lyra said holding his hand close to her chest. _

"_I didn't feel I had anything to live for." Newt said coughing. _

_Lyra pressed her lips to his._

"_You have me." Lyra said staring into his eyes, "I don't want to lose you."_

"_I don't want to lose you either." Newt said gasping for air. _

_Lyra got up and started running from wall to wall until she glowed blue for him. She spilled her blood so that they could be happy. _

_Newt was thrilled when Lyra found out that she was pregnant. They had been through so much together, they were happy to have a little bit of hope in the world. They settled on the name Alyson. It was Lyra's mother's first name. Newt had helped hide Lyra's glowing skin from the others. He understood her completely. He was the best parts of her. He loved her full-heartedly. _

_She loved him with all of her being. She broke rules from him. She caused a war with WCKD for him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. And She had ultimately failed him._


	44. A Phoenix is Born

A Phoenix is Born

Lyra felt Thomas' arms wrap around her as she cried out. It felt like her heart was ripped out of her chest. Lyra couldn't catch her breath. Lyra was aware that Brenda was standing a little way off, but she didn't know what to say to her. She cried into Newt's chest. She looked up at the sky and screamed. That was when she was aware of Frypan, Gally, and Minho standing by Brenda. Slowly she stood up. Minho rushed over to her and she collapsed again crying. Thomas, Gally, Frypan, and Minho hugged her as she cried. Then she got really quiet. She looked around the square. There was a bag full of explosives and flares off on the corner. Lyra grabbed them and her bow and arrow and marched off to WCKD HQ. Lyra could feel Thomas following her. She threw the explosives as she made her way to her aunt. Leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. When she had thrown that last explosive she pulled back her bow as she entered the glass building, they just escaped from. Standing in the front hallway was Ava. Thomas pointed his handgun at her. Lyra's hands were shaking.

"I loved him." Lyra said quietly, slowly walking towards Ava.

"I loved him. And you took him away from me." She yelled.

"Is it true that I could have saved him?" Thomas asked steadily, but his hand was shaking.

"You could have saved us all." Ava replied calmly.

Thomas dropped the gun and Lyra lowered her bow. She started crying again.

Ava walked up to her and hugged her. Ava placed a hand on Lyra's belly.

"Newt will live on in you, Lyra." Ava whispered into Lyra's ear.

Ava turned to Thomas.

"Just leave the other's alone." Thomas said softly.

"I promise." Ava said sincerely.

A gunshot rang out from the stillness. Lyra put her hands to her mouth as Ava fell to the floor. Lyra turned to see who had shot the bullet. Stand a few feet away stood Jason, smoke still licking the air around him. It was then that a realization hit Lyra. The third man in the videotape, the slender man with the salt and pepper hair, who shot and killed her parents, was Jason. Jason lunged at them then the world went dark.

Lyra slowly blinked her eyes open, she was strapped to the exam chair. She had a prick mark in her elbow crease. Jason was talking to Thomas, the future of the human race. Thomas hit Jason in the head and Jason fell down hard. Teresa undid the binding on Thomas.

But Jason got up and threw Teresa around the lab crashing and shattering glass. Thomas undid his own bindings as Lyra finished undoing hers.

"You good?" Thomas asked looking at Lyra.

"I'm ready to watch this place burn." Lyra answered.

They charged Jason, breaking a few glass walls. Jason threw a punch at Lyra, but she blocked it. Thomas landed a few blows to Jason's head. Jason got Thomas in a chokehold. Lyra kicked Jason in the back, causing him to let go of Thomas. The three of them continued fighting around the corridor. Then Jason threw Lyra to the ground followed by Thomas.

"That's enough." Jason said pointing a gun at the two of them.

Suddenly two missiles exploded into the building causing the power to go out and rubble to strewn the hallways. Jason was knocked down. Teresa helped Lyra and Thomas get up. They made their way down the hallway. But Jason got up and started shooting at them. Thomas pulled them into a room. When Lyra turned around, Thomas was holding onto his lower right stomach, blood was oozing out between his fingers. He had been shot. Thomas fell against a lab table. Thomas lifted up his shirt, there was a bullet hole with blood oozing out. Lyra scrambled next to him. She and Teresa exchanged a worried glance. Teresa turned around and opened up the drawers. She found a rag.

"Here. Here!" Teresa said turning back to them, "Lyra just hold it, put pressure on it."

Lyra took the rag from Teresa and pressed it against the wound.

Thomas started to breathe heavily and labored.

"You both gotta go." Thomas sighed, "You gotta go."

"No way! Are you crazy?" Lyra shot back, "I'm staying here."

"No." Teresa answered, "Not without you."

They heard the doors to the lab open a little ways from them. Jason found them. They were cornered in the room. There were muffled growled from the Cranks in an observation room right next door. The Only thing stopping the Cranks from getting it was a wall of glass.

"Admit it, Teresa. You had me fooled." Jason shouted, "I thought we were friends. Maybe it is just in your nature to betray."

Thomas, Teresa, and Lyra carefully made their way around the room, avoiding Jason. Lyra poked her eyes over a counter to see if she could locate Jason, he was a few rows to their left.

"Lyra, sorry about your parents. Ava and I needed you in the maze. Your parents wouldn't hear of it. I had to do what was necessary for the greater good. Then Ava started to have regrets about hurting you, torturing you. But you see, it is you, along with Thomas, who will save us all. You proved that when you saved Newt back in the maze." Jason shouted.

Lyra felt a rage burn in her heart.

"Let's not prolong this." Jason continued, "We all know there is no way out of this. Let's not make this any more painful than this needs to be."

Lyra helped Thomas crawl towards the end of the lab counters. Lyra slowly looked around the corner. Teresa was behind the other counter, across the walkway. Teresa crawled toward them, but Jason step between them. He pointed his gun at Teresa. Teresa backed away but Jason slowly gained on her. She stopped and stood up. They mumbled to each other.

Then Jason shouted,"Come on Lyra, Thomas. What do you have to say? Don't you both have enough blood on your hands already?"

Lyra and Thomas exchanged a glance. Lyra knew what he was thinking. She nodded in agreement and handed Thomasa metal pan, as she grabbed her handgun from her thigh holster. They slowly got up.

"You might not have been able to shoot her, but I can." Jason continued still looking at Teresa.

"Jason!" Thomas shouted as he threw a metal pan towards Jason.

Jason ducked and Lyra let five bullets fly into the glass wall.

Jason stood up pointed the gun at them and smiled, "Missed you little shits."

"Did we?" Thomas asked through labored breathing.

Jason turned around to see the five bullets caused the glass wall to start cracking.

"One for my parents, one for my aunt, one for Newt, one for me, and one for everyone else you hurt." Lyra said counting on her fingers, as the glass continued cracking.

The two Cranks busted through the glass and lunged at Jason, tearing at his flesh. Lyra and Teresa helped Thomas up. The building came down around them as they made their way to the roof of the building. They were trapped. Thomas fell into Teresa's arms. She held his hand.

"I'm sorry. I tried." Teresa sobbed.

Thomas pressed his lips to Teresa's as the hoverjet broke through the smoke to hover next to the roof. Lyra and Teresa helped Thomas up and walked him over to the hatch. Minho and Gally helped Lyra into the jet. Vince grabbed Thomas, as another building fell towards the roof. It crashed into the roof and the flooring under Teresa gave way and she fell into the rubble and smoke. The jet flew away. Brenda and Vince patched Thomas up. That was when Lyra was aware a warm liquid has streaked down her leg and there was a sharp pain coming from her stomach.

"No, no, no this can't be happening now." Lyra cried as she lay on the floor of the jet,

Vince, Brenda, Gally, Frypan, Minho, and Thomas turned to her.

"What!" Minho panted.

"I'm going into labor. My water broke when we were fighting Jason." Lyra winced in pain.

Lyra scrambled to take off her pants, all the veins in her legs were glowing a shimmery blue. Lyra cried out in pain. Brenda moved Lyra's legs apart. Minho, Frypan, Thomas, and Gally moved to her head. The pain was unbearable for Lyra.

"Grab my hand!" Gally said told out his hand.

Lyra grabbed it and squeezed.

"Lyra you need to push." Brenda said looking to Lyra.

"I can't. I can't do this. I'm not ready. Newt is not here." Lyra cried out.

"Lyra, listen to me. You are the strongest person I know. Newt knew you were ready. You have all of us too. You got this." Gally said firmly looking into Lyra's eyes.

"Push Lyra." Brenda yelled.

Lyra screamed as she pushed the little thing that was growing inside of her out. Brenda grabbed it and dried it off with a towel. Vince made sure the baby was healthy, then handed the bundle to Lyra. A small baby with bright blue eyes and thin blonde tufts stared back at her.

"Hello, Alyson." Lyra mused as she smiled at the baby.


	45. Paradise at Last

Paradise at Last

Thomas walked out of his hut and towards her. Lyra was holding Alyson talking to Minho. Lyra saw Thomas, she got up and walked over to him.

"Hey." Lyra sighed as she hugged him.

Lyra could see the sadness in his eyes as he stared at his friends, Brenda, Vince, Sonya, Frypan, Jorge, Aris, and Harriet. She felt that sadness too.

"How are you holding up?" Thomas finally asked after a while of silence.

"I'm okay." Lyra replied, the pain of losing Newt still stung in her heart.

Thomas looked down that the baby girl in Lyra's arms, "Who is this little bundle?"

"Her name is Alyson Newton Paige. She is Newt's daughter." Lyra said smiling at her precious baby.

Thomas looked to Lyra and smiled, "Can I hold her?"

"Yeah. You are practically her uncle." Lyra laughed as she carefully passed Alyson to Thomas.

Lyra turned and looked at Minho, "Don't worry you're her uncle too."

Minho smiled tears forming behind his eyes as he hugged Lyra tightly, "Newt would be proud of her and you."

"Thank you, Minho." Lyra said.

The sky was darkening when they all sat down at a long wooden table under the large tent. Vince and other immunes brought out baskets of fruit and bread, a large pot of stew was placed in the center of the table. The group took turns getting a bowl. They laughed and chatted about everything. Lyra smiled, she knew the people at that table were her family. Not the family she was born with, but the family she created.

After dinner, Lyra had just put Alyson to sleep when Vince asked everyone to form around a campfire. Vince stood behind the fire but in front of an obelisk made out of rock. Lyra sat on one of the wooden tables between Minho and Thomas.

"We have come a long way together." Vince spoke, "So many have sacrificed so much to make this place possible. Your friends and your family. So here's to the ones who couldn't be here. Here's to the friends we lost."

The whole group raised a mug in the air. Lyra thought of Alby, Winston, Zart, Chuck, George, Teresa, and her parents. Tears formed in her eyes when she thought of Newt and the words her aunt said, _Newt lives within you, _and she smiled remembering the fun she had with him.

"This place is for you. It's for all of us. But this..." Vince continued pointing to the obelisk-shaped rock, "...This is for them. So in your own time, in your own way, come make your peace. And welcome to the Safe Haven!"

The group cheered as Vince finished his speech. The group got up and chatted. Vince added wood to the fire. Lyra walked away from the group to her hut. Alyson was still fast asleep in her wooden crib. Lyra kissed her head and exited the hut. Thomas was on the path as Lyra left her hut.

"You okay?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah. I was just checking on Alyson." Lyra asked half smiling, "I miss him though. I mean I miss all of them, but I miss him most of all."

Thomas hugged her tightly, "I know. I do too."

Thomas walked with her back to the party. Lyra sat on a table and pulled out the locket that Newt shoved into her pocket. She opened the locket. There was a folded piece of paper. Lyra carefully unfolded it. There were words on it. Lyra quietly read them, but she could hear Newt's voice in her head as she scanned over the words.

_Dear Lyra,_

_I don't know how many letters I have written, but this letter will probably be one of my last. I want to say how much I love you. I loved you from the moment you walked out of the Maze into the Glade almost 4 years ago. I just felt compelled towards you, like I had known you all my life, which I have now learned that I did. I only have a few flashes of memory before the Maze, but in all of those flashes, you were there. I will miss your smile and your laugh. I will miss the way you look at me. I will miss your lips against mine. I will miss holding you in my arms. I always loved to do that, I just wish I didn't have to let go this time. I never truly worried about you when you went into the Maze, because I knew you were always going to come running back to me. I love you, I will always love you. I just wish I could be there when you need me the most, the birth of Alyson. You are strong and I always admired your fierceness and your resilience. I don't know if I could have made it without you. You saved me that day in the Maze, when I was at my lowest. You gave me something to live and fight for and for that I will never be able to thank you properly. I knew from the moment we left the Maze that I would protect you always, and I have tried to the best of my ability. Just know that I love you with all my heart and one day we'll be together again. Tell Alyson about me and all the brave things I have done, you can embellish if you have to. If I could do it all over again I would only change one thing. I would tell you that I love you from the moment we met just outside the Maze doors. My hope for you and Alyson is this: Find happiness with whatever and whoever you can. Just know I will love you whatever you do. _

_Goodbye, My Love._

_Newt _

She looked over to Thomas, who was sitting on another table. He had a piece of paper in his hands. He looked to her and nodded. Lyra looked to the obelisk. Minho carved Alby's and Ben's names into the rock, Gally carved Chuck's name, Frypan carved Winston's name, and Vince carved Mary's name. Lyra got up grabbed the knife and carved Newt's name into the rock. Lyra turned and hugged Minho. She joined Brenda, Harreit, Aris, Sonya, Jorge, Vince, Gally, Frypan, and Minho by the fire. A little while later, Thomas joined them. The night had grown old when Lyra said goodnight to her friends and made her way back to her hut.

Early the next morning, Lyra put on her boots and walked towards the ocean. She grabbed a stick a started carving three names in the sand by the water. After she was done, she took a few steps back and sat down. She turned to see Thomas carve something into the obelisk. After he was done he sat down next to her.

"You carved Teresa's name, didn't you?" Lyra asked, staring at the horizon.

"Yeah." Thomas said looking at the sand.

ALYSON PAIGE, JACOB PAIGE, AVA PAIGE, were etched in the sand and slowly being washed away with the waves lapping at them.

"I couldn't bring myself to carve their names into the rock. They didn't deserve it. Sure they raised me, but they are not the reason I made it here." Lyra said looking to Thomas, "But I do forgive them in a way. I mean if they hadn't created WCKD or the maze, I wouldn't have met you, Minho, Alby, Gally, Brenda, Jorge, Chuck, Winston, Ben, George, Teresa, Aris, Harriet, or Sonya. I don't know the kind of person I would be now if I hadn't met any of you. And most importantly I wouldn't have met Newt. And Alyson wouldn't be here without Newt."

Thomas stood up and helped Lyra to her feet. Lyra heard Alyson start to cry as she walked back to the hut. Lyra ran into the hut and picked up Alyson.

"It's okay sweetie. Mommy's here." Lyra said in a soothing voice, "Mommy's here."

For a second Alyson's veins started to glow a shimmery blue as she started to stop crying. Lyra carried Alyson out of the hut and joined her friends. She stood next to Thomas and Minho. Minho put his arm around Lyra's shoulders as they stared out at the waves and the horizon.

Lyra felt her veins start to glow a shimmery blue. They were finally free.


	46. Death Cure Alternative Ending

THE DAUGHTER OF THE MAZE

DEATH CURE

Alternative Ending 


	47. Newt's Final Fight: Alternative Ending

Newt's Final Fight

Thomas looked around as Lyra hugged Newt. Newt kissed her forehead, then turned his head and looked at the fire blazing to their right. Lyra and Thomas were trying to find a way out. Lyra turned back to Newt, he was breathing harder and faster.

"Newt...Newt...Newt." Lyra said shaking Newt by the collar.

"Hey! Hey! Newt!..." Thomas yelled as he started to shake Newt's jacket.

Newt's breathing slowed to a normal pace.

"We are going to try this. Okay?" Lyra said looking him in the eyes, "We gotta move, now. Let's get you up, come on."

She started to stand up. Newt stopped her and handed her a golden locket.

"Take it!" He yelled as he jammed it into her pocket.

Thomas tried to help Newt up, but Newt struggled against him. Newt pulled off a necklace with a small cylinder on it and handed it to Thomas.

"Please...Please, Tommy. Please." Newt sighed as Thomas grabbed the necklace.

"Alright...I need you to give everything you got." Thomas said grabbing Newt's arm, "You and me, right now. Let's go. You ready?"

Newt and Thomas grunted as they slowly made their way to the tunnels. They made their way to the transit center.

"Stay with me. We are almost there." Thomas panted.

Newt collapsed to the ground. Newt gasped for air. Lyra started crying.

"Newt, please...I need you." Lyra said softly.

Thomas started dragging Newt, but he too collapsed from exhaustion.

"Thomas, Lyra." Teresa's voice echoed from the PA system, "Can you hear me? I need you to listen to me. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you two to come back. Thomas, Lyra. You can save Newt. There's still time for him."

Lyra looked over to Newt's almost lifeless body.

"There's a reason Brenda isn't sick anymore. It's your blood." Brenda's voice continued, "Do you both understand? She isn't sick, because you both cured her. She doesn't have to be the only one. All you have to do is come back, and this will all finally be over. Please, just come back. I know you'll do the right..."

Just then the PA system cut out, along with half of the lights in the city. Lyra and Thomas turned back to Newt, who was slowly and awkwardly getting up.

"Newt?" Thomas asked cautiously, he waved Lyra away.

Lyra didn't want to, but she slowly gave Thomas and Newt some space. Her stomach started hurting again.

Newt turned around. His eyes didn't reflect back the Newt that Lyra loved. He was a shell of his former self. Newt growled as he lunged at Thomas. Thomas shoved Newt to the ground.

"Newt? Newt, it's me. It's me?" Thomas repeated.

Lyra started crying, her vision from the house in the scorch came true. She couldn't handle seeing Newt turn into a Crank. Newt kept lunging at Thomas, Thomas kept dodging. Newt finally got Thomas on the ground. They rolled around a while. Lyra tried aiming her arrows, but she couldn't get a clean shot that won't kill Newt. She just couldn't take that shot.

"Tommy, kill me!" Newt panted as he looked to Thomas.

This caused Lyra to cry even harder. Thomas got up and inched closer to Newt. Newt's breathing became faster and quicker. Newt lunged at Thomas and knocked to the ground again. He sat on Thomas' chest, trying to bite him. Newt pressed his forearm into Thomas' neck. Newt's breathing returned to normal.

"I'm sorry, Tommy." Newt panted again.

"It's okay, it's okay." Thomas sighed.

Newt grabbed Thomas' handgun from Thomas' thigh holster and pointed it at his own Newt.

"No." Lyra screamed and she shot an arrow, knocking the gun out of Newt's hand.

Newt growled and charged at Lyra, who swiftly moved out of his way. Newt brandished his knife and swung it at Lyra, who managed to get out of the way. Thomas tackled Newt, but Newt got the upper hand and started to force the knife into Thomas' upper chest. Thomas grabbed Newt's wrist and pushed the knife away from his chest. Lyra grabbed Newt's shoulders and pulled Newt off of Thomas. Newt stood up and faced Lyra. His breathing slowed.

"Lyra…" Newt grabbed her waist and pulled her close to him, "I love you."

"Newt, I love you too." Lyra said through tears, she hugged him tighter.

When they separated, Newt turned around to face Thomas.

"Sorry, love." Newt whispered under his breath, but Lyra could still hear him.

She got a feeling about what he was going to do. Newt's breathing quicken and more rapid. He charged at Thomas, swinging the knife wildly. Newt got closer and closer to Thomas. All of a sudden there was the sound of blood gushing. Thomas stepped back in amazement. Lyra had gotten between Thomas and Newt. Her forearm was bleeding as she lowered it to her side. While Newt and Thomas were fighting Lyra had cut her forearm and drained some of her marbled blood into a small jar. Lyra had pressed the jar to Newt's lips. Lyra then injected Newt with a blue serum label THOMAS on the side. Newt fell down. Lyra dropped to her knees just as fast as Newt's body hit the ground. She rested Newt's head on the ground.

"I will always protect you." Newt spattered, looking into her eyes.

"I will always come running back to you." Lyra said as she pressed her lips to his.

When she leaned back up, Newt wasn't breathing. She cried into Newt's chest, as the memories flooded back.

_Newt was one of the first subjects brought in. She was 10 when she stood next to her aunt as the group was led into a lounge-style room. _

"_Welcome to the World Catastrophe Killzone Department. You are all here to change the world…" Ava stated._

_Lyra made her way to a blonde boy with brown eyes._

"_Hi." She whispered, "I'm Lyra."_

"_They call me Newt." The boy whispered back._

"_You wanna race around the gym?" Lyra asked. _

"_Yeah" Newt responded. _

_The two of them suck out the presentation and chased each other around the gym. After a while, Newt stopped._

"_What?" Lyra asked as she stopped too._

"_You're skin is glowing." Newt mused. _

"_Yeah it does that. Ava says it's a special thing, but it means that I can't with other kids most of the time." Lyra explained._

"_I think it's cool. I won't tell anyone. Promise," Newt said _

_They were inseparable since. _

_14-year-old Lyra scanned to group entering the corridor to the new WCKD outpost. Thomas walked up to her. _

_She hugged them, "Thank god you're here. Have you seen Newt?"_

"_Not yet." Thomas said, "Lyra you will find him. It is obvious you like him."_

_Lyra gave Thomas look, "That would only matter if he liked me back."_

_Lyra left Thomas and pushed through the crowd. At the back of the pack was Newt. Lyra ran up to him. _

"_Newt." Lyra hugged him tightly._

_He hugged her just as tightly, "I thought I lost you."_

_A year later, a 15-year-old Lyra snuck into the boy's sleeping quarters. _

"_Newt, Lyra's here to see you!" Frypan yelled as Lyra closed the door behind her. _

_Newt got up from his bed and followed Lyra up to the roof. The stars shone like diamonds in the black sky. _

"_Newt." Lyra said looking out at the vast horizon, "I love you."_

_Newt spun her around to face him and pressed his lips to hers._

"_I have been waiting years for you to say those words." Newt smiled at her. _

_Lyra loved the way Newt smiled. _

_Newt was the only thing on her mind when she walked through the door in the wall into the maze. Newt was always on her mind as she survived in the maze. She was thrilled to see Newt again when she walked into the Glade, but she was heartbroken to find out that he didn't remember her. It was a cruel thing for her aunt to do._

_They spent the next year and a half talking, again they were inseparable. They would often flirt with each other when no one was around. One early morning, Lyra saw Newt venture into the maze alone. She grabbed her bow and arrows and slowly followed. She heard the sound of bones break, then the scream from a Griever, then Newt cry out in pain. Lyra found Newt laying in a mangled mess of ivy, his leg bent in a funny way, and a Griever sting in his leg. Lyra dropped to her knees._

"_Lyra. I'm sorry." Newt said as he wiped away tears that her falling across her cheek._

"_Newt. Why?" Lyra said holding his hand close to her chest. _

"_I didn't feel I had anything to live for." Newt said coughing. _

_Lyra pressed her lips to his._

"_You have me." Lyra said staring into his eyes, "I don't want to lose you."_

"_I don't want to lose you either." Newt said gasping for air. _

_Lyra got up and started running from wall to wall until she glowed blue for him. She spilled her blood so that they could be happy. _

_Newt was thrilled when Lyra found out that she was pregnant. They had been through so much together, they were happy to have a little bit of hope in the world. They settled on the name Alyson. It was Lyra's mother's first name. Newt had helped hide Lyra's glowing skin from the others. He understood her completely. He was the best parts of her. He loved her full-heartedly. _

_She loved him with all of her being. She broke rules from him. She caused a war with WCKD for him. She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. And She had ultimately failed him._


	48. A Phoenix is Born: Alternative Ending

A Phoenix is Born

Lyra felt Thomas' arms wrap around her as she cried out. It felt like her heart was ripped out of her chest. Lyra couldn't catch her breath. Lyra was aware that Brenda was standing a little way off, but she didn't know what to say to her. She cried into Newt's chest. She looked up at the sky and screamed. That was when she was aware of Frypan, Gally, and Minho standing by Brenda. Slowly she stood up. Minho rushed over to her and she collapsed again crying. Thomas, Gally, Frypan, Brenda, and Minho hugged her as she cried. Then she got really quiet. They stared at her. Lyra couldn't believe it. Newt was slowly getting up. The darkness in his veins was gone and he's eyes returned to their normal brown. Lyra smiled. The rest of the group looked to Newt. Lyra ran up and hugged him.

"I said I would always protect you. And I still intend to do that, my love." Newt said as he held her tightly.

"I always will come running back to you." Lyra said through happy tears streaming down her face, "I thought I lost you."

Lyra let go as Minho, Thomas, and Gally walked up and hugged Newt.

"I'm glad you're alive." Thomas panted.

"Me too." Newt responded.

"We still to make sure WCKD is destroyed." Lyra said grabbing Thomas' shoulder.

"I am coming with you." Newt nodded to Lyra and Thomas.

"No!" Lyra objected, "You need rest. Go back with Gally, Minho, and Brenda. We will meet you there."

Newt grabbed Lyra's hand and pulled her close to him, he pressed his lips to hers.

"Be careful." Newt said, as he looked into her bright shimmery blue eyes, "I love you."

"Newt, I will always come running back to you." Lyra said with a smile.

Gally, Brenda, Minho, and Newt ran off back into the clouds of smoke.

Lyra looked around the square. There was a bag full of explosives and flares off on the corner. Lyra grabbed them and her bow and arrow and marched off to WCKD HQ. Thomas followed her. She threw the explosives as she made her way to her aunt. Leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. When she had thrown that last explosive she pulled back her bow as she entered the glass building, they just escaped from. Lyra stopped before entering.

"What the plan?" Thomas asked catching up to Lyra.

"Pretend Newt died. Ava is scared that I have nothing else to lose. She doesn't know about Alyson." Lyra said, putting a hand to her stomach, "I'd like to let her keep on thinking I am the most dangerous right now. Maybe we can get her to leave us alone."

Lyra walked into the tall glass building. Standing in the front hallway was Ava. Thomas pointed his handgun at her. Lyra's hands were shaking.

"I loved him." Lyra yelled, slowly walking towards Ava, "I loved him. And you took him away from me."

"Is it true that I could have saved him?" Thomas asked steadily, but his hand was shaking.

"You could have saved us all." Ava replied calmly.

Thomas dropped the gun and Lyra lowered her bow.

Ava walked up to her and placed a hand on Lyra's belly.

"Newt will live on in you, Lyra." Ava whispered into Lyra's ear.

Lyra's face lit up with shock. Ava turned to Thomas.

"Just leave the other's alone." Thomas said softly.

"I promise." Ava said sincerely.

A gunshot rang out from the stillness. Lyra put her hands to her mouth as Ava fell to the floor. Lyra turned to see who had shot the bullet. Stand a few feet away stood Jason, smoke still licking the air around him. It was then that a realization hit Lyra. The third man in the videotape, the slender man with the salt and pepper hair, who shot and killed her parents, was Jason. Jason lunged at them then the world went dark.

Lyra slowly blinked her eyes open, she was strapped to the exam chair. She had a prick mark in her elbow crease. Jason was talking to Thomas, the future of the human race. Thomas hit Jason in the head and Jason fell down hard. Teresa undid the binding on Thomas.

But Jason got up and threw Teresa around the lab crashing and shattering glass. Thomas undid his own bindings as Lyra finished undoing hers.

"You good?" Thomas asked looking at Lyra.

"I'm ready to watch this place burn." Lyra answered.

They charged Jason, breaking a few glass walls. Jason threw a punch at Lyra, but she blocked it. Thomas landed a few blows to Jason's head. Jason got Thomas in a chokehold. Lyra kicked Jason in the back, causing him to let go of Thomas. The three of them continued fighting around the corridor. Then Jason threw Lyra to the ground followed by Thomas.

"That's enough." Jason said pointing a gun at the two of them.

Suddenly two missiles exploded into the building causing the power to go out and rubble to strewn the hallways. Jason was knocked down. Teresa helped Lyra and Thomas get up. They made their way down the hallway. But Jason got up and started shooting at them. Thomas pulled them into a room. When Lyra turned around, Thomas was holding onto his lower right stomach, blood was oozing out between his fingers. He had been shot. Thomas fell against a lab table. Thomas lifted up his shirt, there was a bullet hole with blood oozing out. Lyra scrambled next to him. She and Teresa exchanged a worried glance. Teresa turned around and opened up the drawers. She found a rag.

"Here. Here!" Teresa said turning back to them, "Lyra just hold it, put pressure on it."

Lyra took the rag from Teresa and pressed it against the wound.

Thomas started to breathe heavily and labored.

"You both gotta go." Thomas sighed, "You gotta go."

"No way! Are you crazy?" Lyra shot back, "I'm staying here."

"No." Teresa answered, "Not without you."

They heard the doors to the lab open a little ways from them. Jason found them. They were cornered in the room. There were muffled growled from the Cranks in an observation room right next door. The Only thing stopping the Cranks from getting it was a wall of glass.

"Admit it, Teresa. You had me fooled." Jason shouted, "I thought we were friends. Maybe it is just in your nature to betray."

Thomas, Teresa, and Lyra carefully made their way around the room, avoiding Jason. Lyra poked her eyes over a counter to see if she could locate Jason, he was a few rows to their left.

"Lyra, sorry about your parents. Ava and I needed you in the maze. Your parents wouldn't hear of it. I had to do what was necessary for the greater good. Then Ava started to have regrets about hurting you, torturing you. But you see, it is you, along with Thomas, who will save us all. You proved that when you saved Newt back in the maze." Jason shouted.

Lyra felt a rage burn in her heart.

"Let's not prolong this." Jason continued, "We all know there is no way out of this. Let's not make this any more painful than this needs to be."

Lyra helped Thomas crawl towards the end of the lab counters. Lyra slowly looked around the corner. Teresa was behind the other counter, across the walkway. Teresa crawled toward them, but Jason step between them. He pointed his gun at Teresa. Teresa backed away but Jason slowly gained on her. She stopped and stood up. They mumbled to each other.

Then Jason shouted,"Come on Lyra, Thomas. What do you have to say? Don't you both have enough blood on your hands already?"

Lyra and Thomas exchanged a glance. Lyra knew what he was thinking. She nodded in agreement and handed Thomasa metal pan, as she grabbed her handgun from her thigh holster. They slowly got up.

"You might not have been able to shoot her, but I can." Jason continued still looking at Teresa.

"Jason!" Thomas shouted as he threw a metal pan towards Jason.

Jason ducked and Lyra let five bullets fly into the glass wall.

Jason stood up pointed the gun at them and smiled, "Missed you little shits."

"Did we?" Thomas asked through labored breathing.

Jason turned around to see the five bullets caused the glass wall to start cracking.

"One for my parents, one for my aunt, one for my friends, one for me, and one for everyone else you hurt." Lyra said counting on her fingers, as the glass continued cracking.

The two Cranks busted through the glass and lunged at Jason, tearing at his flesh. Lyra and Teresa helped Thomas up. The building came down around them as they made their way to the roof of the building. They were trapped. Thomas fell into Teresa's arms. She held his hand.

"I'm sorry. I tried." Teresa sobbed.

Thomas pressed his lips to Teresa's as the hoverjet broke through the smoke to hover next to the roof. Lyra and Teresa helped Thomas up and walked him over to the hatch. Minho, Newt, and Gally helped Lyra into the jet. Vince grabbed Thomas, as another building fell towards the roof. It crashed into the roof and the flooring under Teresa gave way and she fell into the rubble and smoke. The jet flew away. Brenda and Vince patched Thomas up. That was when Lyra was aware a warm liquid has streaked down her leg and there was a sharp pain coming from her stomach.

"No, no, no this can't be happening now." Lyra cried as she lay on the floor of the jet.

"What!" Newt panted.

"I'm going into labor. My water broke when we were fighting Jason." Lyra winced in pain.

Lyra scrambled to take off her pants, all the veins in her legs were glowing a shimmery blue. Lyra cried out in pain. Brenda moved Lyra's legs apart. Minho, Frypan, Thomas, and Gally moved to her head. Newt crouched beside Lyra. The pain was unbearable for Lyra.

"Grab my hand!" Newt said told out his hand.

Lyra grabbed it and squeezed.

"Lyra you need to push." Brenda said looking to Lyra.

"I can't. I can't do this. I'm not ready yet. I'm not strong enough" Lyra cried out.

"Lyra, listen to me. You are the strongest, fiercest, and most resilient person I know. We are both ready. We can do this together." Gally said firmly looking into Lyra's eyes.

"Push Lyra." Brenda yelled.

Lyra screamed as she pushed the little thing that was growing inside of her out. Brenda grabbed it and dried it off with a towel. Vince made sure the baby was healthy, then handed the bundle to Lyra. A small baby with bright blue eyes and thin blonde tufts stared back at her.

"Hello, Alyson." Lyra mused as she smiled at the baby.

Lyra looked up at Newt.

"We got this." Newt said, smiling at her.


	49. Paradise at Last: Alternative Ending

Paradise at Last

Thomas walked out of his hut and towards her. Lyra was holding Alyson talking to Minho. Lyra saw Thomas, she got up and walked over to him.

"Hey." Lyra sighed as she hugged him.

Lyra could see the relief in his eyes as he stared at his friends, Brenda, Vince, Sonya, Frypan, Jorge, Aris, Harriet, Minho, Gally, and Newt.

"How are you holding up?" Thomas finally asked after a while of silence.

"I'm okay." Lyra replied smiling.

Thomas looked down that the baby girl in Lyra's arms, "Who is this little bundle?"

"Her name is Alyson Newton Paige." Newt said putting an arm around Lyra.

Thomas looked to Lyra and smiled, "Can I hold her?"

"Yeah. You are practically her uncle." Lyra laughed as she carefully passed Alyson to Thomas.

Lyra turned and looked at Minho, "Don't worry you're her uncle too."

Minho smiled tears forming behind his eyes as he hugged Lyra tightly, "Alby and Ben would be proud of you."

"Thank you, Minho." Lyra said.

The sky was darkening when Brenda, Vince, Sonya, Frypan, Jorge, Aris, Harriet, Minho, Gally, Thomas, Lyra and Newt sat down at a long wooden table under the large tent. Other immunes brought out baskets of fruit and bread. A large pot of stew was placed in the center of the table. The group took turns getting a bowl. They laughed and chatted about everything. Lyra smiled, she knew the people at that table were her family. Not the family she was born with, but the family she created. Newt put his arm around Lyra and kissed her on the cheek.

After dinner, Lyra and Newt had just put Alyson to sleep when Vince asked everyone to form around a campfire. Vince stood behind the fire but in front of an obelisk made out of rock. Lyra sat on one of the wooden tables between Minho and Thomas.

"We have come a long way together." Vince spoke, "So many have sacrificed so much to make this place possible. Your friends and your family. So here's to the ones who couldn't be here. Here's to the friends we lost."

The whole group raised a mug in the air. Lyra thought of Alby, Winston, Zart, Chuck, George, Teresa, Mary Cooper, and her parents. She smiled as she looked to Newt, relief filled her body as she thought about how she almost lost him.

"This place is for you. It's for all of us. But this..." Vince continued pointing to the obelisk-shaped rock, "...This is for them. So in your own time, in your own way, come make your peace. And welcome to the Safe Haven!"

The group cheered as Vince finished his speech. The group got up and chatted. Vince added wood to the fire. Lyra and Newt walked away from the group to their hut. Alyson was still fast asleep in her wooden crib. Lyra kissed her head.

"She has your eyes." Newt commented looking at Lyra.

Lyra smiled and pressed her lips to his, "I love you."

Thomas was on the path as Lyra and Newt left their hut.

"You okay?" Thomas asked.

"Yeah. I was just checking on Alyson." Lyra asked half smiling, "I miss them. I wish Alby could have seen this place, Ben too."

Thomas hugged her tightly, "I know. I do too. I just glad we didn't have to say goodbye to Newt."

Newt looked to Lyra, "How did you save me? I was so far gone. I thought I would have been dead."

"Mary, she gave me the enzyme from Thomas' blood, before she died." Lyra explained, "I injected you with it after you drank the enzyme from my blood. It is a mixture of the two enzymes that creates the cure."

Thomas walked with them back to the party. Lyra sat on a table, next to Newt, and pulled out the locket that Newt shoved into her pocket. She opened the locket. There was a folded piece of paper.

"What is this?" Lyra asked, showing Newt the folded paper.

"My final thoughts to you. When I thought the flare was going to consume me." Newt responded, watching the bonfire dance.

"You want me to read it to you?" Newt asked, taking the paper from Lyra.

Lyra laid her head on Newts shoulders as he read

"Dear Lyra. I don't know how many letters I have written, but this letter will probably be one of my last. I want to say how much I love you. I loved you from the moment you walked out of the Maze into the Glade almost 4 years ago. I just felt compelled towards you, like I had known you all my life, which I have now learned that I did. I only have a few flashes of memory before the Maze, but in all of those flashes, you were there. I will miss your smile and your laugh. I will miss the way you look at me. I will miss your lips against mine. I will miss holding you in my arms. I always loved to do that, I just wish I didn't have to let go this time. I never truly worried about you when you went into the Maze, because I knew you were always going to come running back to me. I love you, I will always love you. I just wish I could be there when you need me the most, the birth of Alison. You are strong and I always admired your fierceness and your resilience. I don't know if I could have made it without you. You saved me that day in the Maze, when I was at my lowest. You gave me something to live and fight for and for that I will never be able to thank you properly. I knew from the moment we left the Maze that I would protect you always, and I have tried to the best of my ability. Just know that I love you will all of my heart and one day we will be together again. Tell Alison about me and all the brave things I have done, you can embellish if you have to. If I could do it all over again I would only change one thing. I would tell you that I love you from the moment we met just outside the Maze doors. My hope for you and Alison is this: Find happiness with whatever and whoever you can. Just know, I will love you whatever you do. Goodbye, My Love. Newt." Newt sniffed a little as he finished reading it.

Lyra took her head off of Newt's shoulders.

"You shouldn't have saved me." Newt said looking at the dark water.

"Yes. I should have." Lyra replied turning Newt's head to face her.

"But you could have hurt Alyson." Newt said holding her hands.

"She is just as strong, fierce, and resilient as I am." Lyra said as she pressed her lips against Newt's, "Did you really think I was going to let you get out of your responsibility to raise her?"

Newt wrapped his arm around her as they looked to Thomas, who had a piece of paper in his hand. He walked up them, tears forming in his eyes. Newt stood in front of Thomas. Thomas hugged Newt.

"It's okay mate." Newt said.

Lyra looked to the obelisk. Minho carved Ben's names into the rock, Gally carved Chuck's name, Frypan carved Winston's name, and Vince carved Mary's name. Lyra got up grabbed the knife and carved Alby's name into the rock. Lyra turned and hugged Newt. They joined Brenda, Harreit, Aris, Sonya, Jorge, Vince, Gally, Frypan, and Minho by the fire. A little while later, Thomas joined them. The night had grown old when Lyra and Newt said goodnight to their friends and made their way back to the hut.

Early the next morning, Lyra put on her boots and walked towards the ocean. She grabbed a stick a started carving three names in the sand by the water. After she was done, she took a few steps back and sat down. She turned to see Thomas carve something into the obelisk. After he was done he sat down next to her. Newt joined them soon after.

"You carved Teresa's name, didn't you?" Lyra asked, staring at the horizon.

"Yeah." Thomas said looking at the sand.

Newt followed his gaze.

ALYSON PAIGE, JACOB PAIGE, AVA PAIGE were etched in the sand and slowly being washed away with the waves lapping at them.

"I couldn't bring myself to carve their names into the rock. They didn't deserve it. Sure they raised me, but they are not the reason I made it here." Lyra said looking to Thomas, "But I do forgive them in a way. I mean if they hadn't created WCKD or the maze, I wouldn't have met you, Minho, Alby, Gally, Brenda, Jorge, Chuck, Winston, Ben, George, Teresa, Aris, Harriet, or Sonya. I don't know the kind of person I would be now if I hadn't met any of you. And most importantly I wouldn't have met Newt. And Alyson wouldn't be here without Newt."

Thomas stood up as Newt helped Lyra to her feet. Lyra heard Alyson start to cry as they walked back to the sleeping quarters. Lyra and Newt ran into the hut and picked up Alyson.

"It's okay sweetie. Mommy's here." Lyra said in a soothing voice, "We are all here."

Newt gently caressed her head. For a second Alyson's veins started to glow a shimmery blue as she started to stop crying. Lyra carried Alyson out of the hut. Newt and Lyra joined their friends. She stood next to Thomas, Minho, and Newt. Newt put his arm around Lyra's waist as they stared out at the waves and the horizon.

Lyra felt her veins start to glow a shimmery blue. They were finally free.


End file.
